With a strong jaw and a focused gaze, Stewart, 41, leaps onstage. With short cropped red hair and leather loafers, Stewart walks into the packed room a little late, another stop on her traveling book tour through the end of June, promoting 'Wicked Plants' and its sequel 'Wicked Bugs.' She is something of a garden world rock star, even appearing on the reality show 'Cake Boss' (a Venus fly-trap cake was created in her honor). Stewart, whose 2007 book 'Flower Confidential' exposed the global flower industry's dark underbelly, knows how to stir the pot.Īt a recent Palo Alto Garden Society meeting, more than 120 women gather while a dignified lady in a blue suit reads announcements. It's a rare opportunity to read the stories of vegetative killers while ambling among them. Oakland-native Briony Morrow-Cribbs' pain-stakingly detailed plant etchings and calligraphy decorate throughout. Stewart's stories are posted throughout the show. This is the first time the conservatory has created an exhibition from a book. 'I've rented more wrought iron than I feel comfortable saying.' Everyone said beer and buttermilk.' She lacquered the set with the concoction.

To grow moss along the gargoyles and busts, 'I asked around. Using set pieces from an old James Bond movie found in conservatory storage, she reconstructed the back of a Victorian home. Hodges, 30, speaks quickly, exuberantly showing off her collection of props. The exhibition's theatrical effect is powerful. Today the focus is education and 'learning to respect the plant.' Hodges talks about the ethnobotany of 'Wicked Plants,' a responsibility to reimagine plants struggling to survive, fighting for life, 'willing to kill for it.' People should 'look at their houseplants with a little awe' after the show. 'There would be the bromeliad show, the orchid show,' Hodges shakes her head. Gone are the days of Society-led exhibitions. If this doesn't sound like the Conservatory of Flowers you knew, then you need to revisit. 'And she's finally done him in,' Hodges finishes. Slowly, you realize you've stumbled into his wife's secret poison garden. Through a window, make out a man slumped over his soup. Entering a decrepit overgrown garden, you see a Victorian house looming overhead. Lau Hodges, director of operations and exhibits, has built a Conservatory of Flowers room you weren't meant to find.

Wicked plants by amy stewart