Entertainment/Leisure

Item Description

If you are fan of orchids or mysteries - or both - you will want to bid on this package including an autographed copy of The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid by Craig Pittman plus two Guest Passes to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Every year more than 100,000 people visit Sarasota’s Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, in large part to see its vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world. But the most famous orchid in Selby’s history - the one hailed as the most significant find in a century - isn't on display. It's the one that led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and headlines around the country.

Discovered in Peru in 2002, the Phragmipedium kovachii quickly became the most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market and otherwise rational people bent rules and broke laws in their obsessive quest to possess it.

Award-winning Tampa Bay Times journalist Craig Pittman covered this fascinating story, as it happened, for the Times, Florida’s largest newspaper. In this enthralling account, he unravels the tangled web of smugglers, scientists, and federal investigators to reveal who the real criminals were in this sordid affair. The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel.

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is the leader in the study, conservation, and display of epiphytes (air plants) - including orchids - and their canopy habitats. Selby's collection of epiphytes is the best in the world. Orchids were central to the founding goals of Selby Gardens, and the two senior scientists tasked with establishing the Gardens as a research institution were both orchid biologists.The mission of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is to further the understanding and appreciation of plant life, with emphasis on epiphytes, and to provide enjoyment to all who visit the Gardens.

Item Special Note

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Guest Passes expire August 31, 2012. Guest Passes are valid for regular daytime admission and are not valid for day or evening special events or after-hours admission.

Winning bidder must pay for postage and shipping of the item(s) or pick them up at the Tampa Bay Times downtown St. Petersburg Bureau, 490 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.