Michigan Environment

Stop and smell the “rotting flesh” as rare corpse flower blooms in Grand Rapids

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff

Published July 9, 2018 at 4:03 PM EDT

Stateside's conversation with Wendy Overbeck, senior horticultural manager at Frederik Meijer Gardens.

It's a momentous week at the Frederik Meijer Gardens.

Its once-tiny corpse flower is now a strapping plant, reaching several feet high, and it's about to bloom for the very first time.

Overbeck said they've had Putricia for 18 years now and they've watched it grow from "just a little seedling" into the 4.5 foot tall plant that it is today.

Wendy Overbeck, senior horticultural manager at Frederik Meijer Gardens, joined Stateside to tell us about the corpse flower and its 18-year history in the garden. Staff have named the plant Putricia.

Listen above to hear what to expect when a corpse flower opens up, why it gives off such a putrid fragrance, and when might be the best time this week to get a rare peek (and whiff) of a corpse flower in bloom.

This post was updated Friday, July 13, with new photos of the corpse flower in bloom.

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Overbeck said when the plant blooms this week, it will smell like rotting meat but "it's really quite gorgeous."