In her latest book, Otherwise Normal People, Aurelia C. Scott has found people that like to garden, but none of that “buy a couple of plants from the grocery store and throw them in the ground and then never look at them again because plants don’t deserve my time and attention” crap. These people garden the way Lance Armstrong rides bikes, and as Scott shows us, the results are amusing, frightening, and often times very enlightening.

The book centers around a group of competitors preparing for the American Rose Society’s spring show. They live anywhere from North Carolina to California, they are housewives and brain surgeons and sheet metal mechanics, and they all have their own tips and secrets for growing the perfect rose. Scott expertly chronicles the group’s passion, often getting swept up in the fervor herself, but never pokes fun at the somewhat esoteric nature of the competition.

Listen to rosarian anecdotes on the Diane Rehm Show.