My husband and I used to be members of the Chicago Botanic Garden. We would normally visit two-three times during the summer, and we even had wedding pictures taken there. Unfortunately, we can't get out there very frequently anymore, though we still try to see the inside model train exhibit during the holidays. However, there's one special event we haven't seen yet: a blooming corpse flower. Spike, the corpse flower at the Chicago Botanic Garden, is due to bloom any day. (There's another corpse flower in Denver named Stinky ready to bloom too. According to this article, the flowers are even tweeting to each other. Amazing who's on Twitter these days.)
No one is quite sure when Spike will bloom, though it could be tonight. The garden plans to be open until 2:00 a.m. the day of the bloom. I don't have the stamina these days to get up in the middle of the night (though I'd still be awake anyway) and drive nearly an hour to smell something terrible, so I'll just have to settle for following Spike at this link.
How familiar are you with the corpse flower? Have you seen or smelled on in person?
Never smelled one and wouldn't get up in the middle of the night to go sniff one. That place will be packed when it does bloom.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how far the scent travels, Alex. I doubt I'll be smelling it where I live--which is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteIt's a really impressive flower, but I think I'd rather admire it from a distance.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it'll be on the news. :)