Month: July 2013

The corpse flower at Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden (USBG) is rapidly going dormant. The spadix has collapsed, and the spathe continues to wither. The USBG staff cut two holes in the base of the spathe. The female and male flowers can be seen through those holes (see photos below). A staff member told me that they harvested the pollen today. I forgot to ask if they pollinated the female flowers, but I would assume not as they would have bloomed four days ago when the plant was in peak bloom. As always refer to my photos from the past two weeks to see changes (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 20, July 21, July 22, July 23, and July 24). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared as well as a video that has a slide show of photos. Finally, I continue to give the smell report for old time’s sake. There is no smell.On the left side of the spathe base in the below photo, one of the holes created when the staff cut into the spathe can be seen.

Below is the view through the lower hole cut in near the base of the spathe that shows the female flowers.

Below is the view through another slightly higher hole that was cut near the base of the spathe that shows the male flowers with the female flowers underneath the same flowers.

I think I have already stated how I am obsessed with the corpse flower at Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden. It should be obvious as I have photographed it everyday for the past thirteen days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 20, July 21, July 22, and July 23). Today I realized I really am a bit too attached to it. The crowds visiting it have mostly died down, but some are still coming to see it. Some state they did not realize how quickly the bloom withered or didn’t realize they had missed the peak bloom. Today while I was photographing it, a group of teenagers were also there. They probably looked at it for only a few minutes. I saw one girl stand there, shrug her shoulders, then walk away with this “what’s the big deal” expression. I found myself thinking “don’t speak ill of the dying” as if the corpse flower might have its feelings hurt. Yes, I have grown far too attached to it. Then again, I am not the only person who anthropomorphizes it. While I was there, I heard someone tell some other people that the corpse flower was “moving on” as if it had found a better job at another botanical garden. This has caused me to get a mental image of the corpse flower dying back into its corm, then somehow extending wheels on its pot and wheeling itself over to a fancier botanical garden. This would somehow seems to be difficult without with arms or hands, but perhaps it is a really fancy pot that it can operate via low grade electrical charges in the soil. The large pot then takes to the road hauling the 80-lb or so corm to the fancier botanical garden with a better staff of botanists to care for it. DC traffic is bad enough without having to deal with a large pot containing a corpse flower corm slowing driving itself to a new greenhouse. Yes, I’ll stop with this nonsense now.

The blossom continues to wither. The spathe has collapsed completely back towards the spadix, and the spadix appears to be shrinking more. The plant is more yellow and the spathe looks crispy and dehydrated. I think the spadix is starting to lean also. As always, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared as well as a video that has a slide show of photos. Finally, I continue to give the smell report for old time’s sake. There is no smell.

The corpse flower at Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s was in peak bloom yesterday. The spathe is now collapsing back towards the spadix, and the entire plant is starting to wither. The spadix and the upper part of the spathe are starting to become more yellow and less green. The fringe of the spathe reminds me of the leaves of a plant that needs water. As always, to see the changes the plant has gone through, view the photos from the past twelve days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 20, July 21, and July 22). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared as well as a video that has a slide show of photos. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there is no smell. The time for the smell is over, but I suppose if they leave it out long enough, it might start to smell as it decays.

The corpse flower at Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s is finally blooming! It is in full bloom now with the spathe completely open. It is absolutely gorgeous. The interior is a deep crimson color, and when the spathe is viewed from below, it looks pinkish as the crimson color is filtered through it. I don’t think my photos can completely do it justice, but I certainly tried. As always, to see the changes the plant has gone through, view the photos from the past eleven days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 20, and July 21). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared as well as a video that has a slide show of photos. Finally, as for the daily smell report, I am sorry to report that when I was there from 10 to 11 this morning, there was no smell. I got within four feet of it, and I have a very sensitive nose, but I didn’t smell anything, other than the sweaty people around me. A staff member told me that the smell was most potent late last night. The below photo is almost the exact same photo as the one above, but it was taken without a flash, hence the out of focus-ness. I tried to capture the gorgeous pink color that filters through the spathe due to the spathe’s crimson interior.

My daily visits to Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower to view and photograph it have completely paid off. It is finally blooming! The spathe’s fringe has significantly pulled away from the spadix. In fact below, there are two series of photos from the same vantage point because the spathe had opened an observable amount in the hour I was there. The gorgeous purple or crimson color of the spathe’s interior is showing. As always, to best see the changes in the plant, view the photos from the past ten days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, and July 20). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared as well as a video that has a slide show of photos. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there still is no smell. The smell report should change tomorrow!

The below photos were taken approximately 50 minutes after the first three photos in this post. There were taken from approximately the same vantage point, and the amount the spathe has pulled away from the spadix can clearly be seen. 

I am now on ten days of daily visits to Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower to view and photograph it. I didn’t see any curators today, so I don’t know if it is still growing, but my guess would be yes. I think it is wider today, and the spathe’s fringe seems to be getting redder and frillier and is pulling away from the spadix more. As always, to best see the changes in the plant, view the photos from the past nine days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, and July 19). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there still is no smell. Yes, I do simply copy and paste the smell report everyday. It doesn’t change.

Day 9 of my daily visits to Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower to view and photograph it. I talked to a curator today. They won’t even guess when it is going to bloom. He said he would say 1 – 3 days, but they have been saying that for the past week. The plant keeps surprising them because it keeps growing. They thought since it is only seven years old, and this is the first time it has bloomed, that it would be a small bloom. However, it keeps growing. Two days ago it was 72 inches. Last night it was 86 inches, and this morning it was 91 inches tall. The spadix is growing, and the base below the spathe is also growing. They have had to cut fronds off of the nearby palms because it keeps growing. This would help to explain why I have been having trouble gauging its growth because the background keeps changing. They have a stationary video camera and still camera in front of it that automatically take video and photos. They have had to readjust the frame on them three times because it keeps growing out of frame. That is insane. The plant will bloom when it blooms. It wants to put on a show I think.

As always, to best see the changes in the plant, view the photos from the past eight days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, and July 18). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared. It seems to me the spathe is getting frillier, but I can’t be sure. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there still is no smell.

Another day, another visit to Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower to view and photograph it. I love this corpse flower. I am obsessed with this corpse flower. It needs to bloom already though. To best see the changes, view the photos from the past seven days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, and July 17). Also, see the “Corpse Flower” page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so the photos can be more easily compared. I can’t really tell what changed today from yesterday. It may be a little wider in the middle. I think the edges of the spathe are a little redder. I think the fringe edge of the spathe is pulling away a bit more. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there still is no smell.

Let me just state the obvious: I am obsessed with this plant. I visit Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower daily to view and photograph it. I take more and more photos every day. I just find it beautiful. I love seeing the changes and discovering new beautiful details everyday. The last two photos on this page are where the spathe overlaps itself at the base. I squatted for several minutes to get a very low angle using my zoom lens to photograph the curl that is formed. I think it is a neat detail on the plant. I also love the pink edge of the spathe as it overlies the green of the spathe’s outer side.

To best see the changes, view the photos from the past six days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, and July 16). I have also created a new page on my website that has photos from everyday that shows the whole plant so they can be more easily compared. The plant should bloom very soon, but it is still growing. I am not sure if it got any taller today, but I think it got wider. The edges of the spathe appear to be getter redder. I think the fringe edge of the spathe is pulling away a bit more also. Finally, as for the daily smell report, there still is no smell.

It’s day six of my daily visits to Washington, DC’s US Botanical Garden’s corpse flower to view and photograph it. For the past five days (July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, and July 15), I tried to take photos from the same spots, so that I could compare to photos from previous visits. However last night, the final green petal, which could be seen on the right in many of my previous photos, fell. When it did, it revealed where the spathe overlaps itself and thus where the spathe will open up when it blossoms. Thus, this morning the USBG rotated the plant’s pot so that it would open up to the front and in view of it’s stationary cameras. This of course makes sense, but it completely messed up my ability to take the photos in the same place to capture the same parts of the plant. Oh, well. However as the petal fell, there really is no point of reference to compare to previous days’ photos. The plant should bloom very soon, and it is still growing. The USBG’s executive director was speaking while I was there, and she said that it grew eight inches today. Finally, to answer what everyone is curious about, there still is no smell.