The Botanic Garden boasts an unprecedented three of the putrid-smelling plants, all of which are set to bloom this month. The first corpse flower at the garden began opening Saturday night.
Corpse flowers don’t bloom annually — the wait between blooms can be anywhere from a few years to a decade.
(Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)
Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden
This will be the first bloom for both plants. The one with the twin flowers is estimated to be 12 years old. The single bloom plant is only five years old, which is unusually young.
(Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)
Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden
The smelliest time to sniff these buds is at night and into the early morning.
(Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)
Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden
The first of three corpse flowers at the U.S. Botanic Garden started to open Saturday night.
(Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)
Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden
One of the three corpse flowers at the U.S. Botanic Garden expected to bloom in the next few days stands at 91 inches on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017.
(Courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)
WASHINGTON — Is it starting to smell even stinkier over by the Capitol? Well, that could be because another corpse flowers on display in D.C. has begun blooming, the U.S. Botanic Garden announced late Monday night.
The Botanic Garden boasts an unprecedented three of the putrid-smelling plants, all of which are set to bloom this month. The first corpse flower at the garden began opening Saturday night.
Upon blooming, the plants release a noxious-smelling potpourri likened to garlic, diapers and rotting flesh for up to eight hours.
Fans of the funk have been lining up at the botanic garden to get a whiff for themselves. The Botanic Garden has extended its hours until 10 p.m. during peak bloom days.
The final corpse flower, which is likely to be the largest, is set to bloom this weekend.
Have a look at the U.S. Botanic Garden’s corpse-flower cam (sorry no smell-o-vision):
Jack Moore joined WTOP.com as a digital writer/editor in July 2016. Previous to his current role, he covered federal government management and technology as the news editor at Nextgov.com, part of Government Executive Media Group.
