Get a Whiff of This – SD Botanic Garden Gears Up for Rare, Stinky Bloom

The San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas is abuzz with excitement as a rare botanical event is about to unfold — a corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum, is preparing to bloom.

Nicknamed the corpse flower due to its rancid smell of rotting flesh, the plant is expected to bloom over the next week and once in full bloom will emit its pungent odor for only 48 hours.

This flower last bloomed three years ago, in Nov. 2021, making its imminent bloom a remarkable feat. Typically, corpse flowers require seven to ten years to produce their first bloom and then bloom only every four to five years thereafter.

The plant is characterized as a carrion flower that attracts carcass-eating insects. Native to the rainforests of Sumatra, the humid climate that this rare and endangered plant grows in will be replicated in the garden’s 8,000 square-foot Dickinson Family Education Conservatory.

For those unable to visit in person, a 24-hour live stream of the plant is available online. While the exact bloom date cannot be determined, the garden will regularly update its website and social media, along with hosting a naming competition for the bloom. This plant’s previous bloom in 2021 was named “Stinking Beauty.”

In anticipation of this event, the garden is extending its hours to midnight on the two nights of the bloom, allowing visitors to experience the infamous odor at its strongest in the evening. Additionally, special early morning viewing hours will be available starting at 7 a.m. on the second and third days following the bloom. Ticket reservations are required.

The exact dates will be announced once the plant begins to bloom, event organizers said. The flower will remain on display during regular daytime hours until it decays.