Normally we associate gardens with all sorts of lovely smelling flowers. But it’s a stench akin to that of rotting flesh that attracts visitors to the Huntington each summer—including this one.
The San Marino botanical garden announced on Tuesday that its latest corpse flower is expected to bloom within the next two weeks. As a result, the institution has started an around-the-clock live stream to keep tabs on the remarkably stinky but short-lived bloom cycle.
For now, “Green Boy,” as it’s been nicknamed, looks like a stumpy green stalk. But during its peak development, the rare titan arum specimen can grow as much as six inches per day to ultimately reach a height of 12 feet. When it’s finally ready to bloom, as it previously did in 2021, it’ll unfurl into what looks like a massive burgundy-maroon flower—and release an unmistakably foul odor along with it.
Here’s the thing, though: These blooms are notoriously unpredictable and brief. It takes two to three years for a single specimen to bloom, but then that only lasts for 24 to 48 hours. Though botanical staff meticulously chart the growth, sometimes the flowers can bloom unexpectedly. You can watch the live stream to keep tabs on Green Boy’s growth, and expect the Huntington to share an announcement on social media when it’s bloomed, as well.
Once it does bloom, you can view it inside of the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science (the large greenhouse toward the northern part of the garden’s property). Access is included with a standard timed admission ticket, which costs $29 for adults, and $34 from Friday to Sunday. There may be a bit of a line to see it during the peak bloom, and note that viewing times are limited to the Huntington’s usual 9am to 5pm hours—however, in the past, the institution has offered some additional member hours.
Sometimes, I swear these flowers keep tabs on the operating hours, because in the past they’ve bloomed overnight or on a Tuesday, when the Huntington is closed. That said, I think these corpse flowers are still worth seeing even after their peak. Here’s a trio of corpse flowers I saw there in 2018; there was little left to see of “Stink” almost a week after it bloomed, and “Stank” was already wilting a day after its own bloom, but “Stunk,” visible on the right side of the photo below, was still beautifully unfurled the next day—though the rotting flesh smell had already dissipated.
Speaking of that odor, that’s how corpse flowers attract pollinators. Titan arum, which are native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia, are actually a massive collection of many smaller blooms, and when those flower, the plant unleashes a stench that attracts carrion beetles and flies. (In this case, the botanical staff carries out that pollination themselves using brushes.)
Fewer than 1,000 titan arum specimens remain in the wild, but the Huntington actually has a whole cadre of corpse flowers: It currently cares for 43 between its conservatory and greenhouses, and Green Boy will mark the Huntington’s 27th bloom since 1999, a record among Western U.S. institutions.