How does Susan Orlean use imagery in The Orchid Thief?

Imagery:

"But there is something about Florida more seductive and inescapable than almost anywhere else I've ever been. It can look brand-new and man-made, but as soon as you see a place like the Everglades or the Big Cypress Swamp or the Loxahatchee you realize that Florida is also the last of the American frontier."

"It is less like a state than a sponge. People are drawn to it."

"I am standing amid millions of dollars' worth of flowers. I breathed in deep and held my breath while I swung my head so that the $4 million of flower colors smeared like lipstick."