I’ve wanted to see a corpse flower since I was a child, but I’ve never been close enough on the rare occasion one does bloom. I spent the last week anxiously watching updates from the Cincinnati Zoo and dragged Olive out to see it when it finally bloomed on Saturday.
We waited in line for 3 hours in the hot summer sun, but it was definitely worth it to see it (and smell it) in person. Olive couldn’t really smell it and unfortunately they had the plant situated right next to the automatic doors. Combined with the fan that was running, it really carried away a lot of the smell, but I could still smell it and there were plenty of flies buzzing (one visible on the sign below!)
Blooming Titan Arum
While definitely the most impressive and well-known, there are actually hundreds of types of carrion plants. Check out our guide to plants that smell like death! Many of them you can even grow yourself at home including other corpse flowers in the Amorphophallus genus like titan arum. In fact, you can even grow a titan arum as long as you have a greenhouse and some patience. Etsy seller Carnivero sells live titan arum plants!
