Some good info, some bad advice
The author spends a great deal of time telling you how to plant, transplant, fertilize, etc. She spends way too much space on basics of horticulture. Surely, anyone interested in selling flowers already knows how to grow them! The Ball RedBook would be a better reference for plant-specific growing advice. This book has extensive information about marketing and field yields, but I would take her advice with a grain of salt. I do not agree with some of her calculations and her other information is so far off the mark that I do not trust her opinions in this regard either.
The best info in this book is from her "case studies". The farmers she interviews give good information about their methods and mistakes, but very few specifics about the most important topic: preservation. Just as top chefs will alter recipes so that no one can duplicate their materpieces exactly, most flower growers are very tight-lipped about their secrets and will write pages and pages without giving specifics. This book is true to form. "Proper contitioning" tips go no farther than adding sugar or asprin, or buying commercial (and expensive!) potions.
My greatest complaint has to do with her guide to cut flowers at the end of the book. Some flowers that keep beautifully (after conditioning) are dismissed as having "no vase life". For example: Poppies and Cleome are dismissed as lasting a day or two, but using certain methods my Cleome lasted 2 WEEKS in the vase and won a blue ribbon at the county fair, and poppies can fetch $5 a stem and last 7-10 days if you do it right. "Flowers for Sale" by Lee Sturdivant has much better conditioning and plant selection information.
