Aloha,
The fella who rents my studio rescued a little piece of this plant that floated into our driveway when we had flash flooding from up country a little while ago. He stuck it into a pot and it has grown by leaps and bounds. This morning it had a huge bud on it....
This evening it had this weird flower opened. It doesn't have a bad smell although it does remind me of some sort of carrion plant, and the flies do seem to be attracted to it - I am betting someone can id it in a nano second, but have you ever seen the flowers before?
TIA, ^_^
Jen
A pict showing just how big the flower is on the relatively short plant...
Hey, Jenny!
I think it's a Stapelia, maybe this one? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/2211/
Take care!
Alexandra
Oh Alex, that's it! No wonder it looked like a carrion plant flower - but I alway thought they smelled to high heaven and this one doesn't! Perhaps it needs another day to get really ripe!
Warmest Aloha.
Thee art braver than me, Jennygirl...!!!
WOW, cool plant! don't have any of those around here!
Only in Hawaii would a lovely flower just "float right in."
What a beautiful color your Stapelia has Hetty, do you grow it outside in your area?
I had that last one, cream colored with burgundy markings, growing in full sun out in the desert in Palm Springs. I did have to move it away from the terrace because it attracts so many flies. One piece broke off and I put it in a hanging basket, it did very well there and the blooms were beautiful hanging down from the basket, wish I had a picture.
Aloha!
Sometimes, stench comes from plants you don't suspect. I remember an odoriferous incident in 1978, the summer after we purchased the house in Montreal. The previous owner had left a huge patch of purple and silver irises. I got up and these irises were getting ready to bloom. When she saw them, Gail wanted a bouquet for the dining room table. We were entertaining that evening and she thought it would look nice.
We had so many irises all blooming at the same time, I went out and cut about 2 dozens that were ready to open. It didn't even make a dent in the iris bed. We arranged them in an elegant, very tall vase and it looked stunning. We needed to go out and run a couple errands before company arrived.
When we returned, we opened the front door and were confronted with a stench of biblical proportions. We blamed the dog but for once in its mangey life, it was not its fault. We searched the house from top to bottom for the source of this scourge. The irises stank like a very badly maintained sewer on a hot summer day! Now that smell was everywhere in the house and we had company coming.
The irises were promptly taken to the back yard for disposal on the compost heap. We managed to air out the smell before anyone came calling but we never brought another one of those irises in the house. Funny thing, they didn't smell outside. I guess the odour is released when they open and the outside breeze flushed away the odour as it was being produced, which didn't bother anyone.
A blessed day to you all.
Pu'ole, a.k.a. Sylvain.
Hahaha! A lady out in the countryside was selling irisses from her huge collection, about a quarter acre of rows of Iris. Knowing some are wonderfully fragrant, i was sniffing around. "PHE-UUU!!" "This one smells like old used kitty litter!" She ambled over, not smiling, sniffed, and hmmed, "You're right!" We laughed about it.
Maybe the same kind?
phewww, i didn't know some irises stink!
Funny that the bloom Lloyd had didn't hardly smell at all, different variety?
LOL, Pu'ole, you always make me laugh! I have never noticed a stink from Iris - they are often in the bouquets they sell at Safeways and I am going to check it out next time I go!
Like I was saying: the odor seemed to be released as the buds opened. I just checked with Gail, who never embellishes any story and they were indeed a couple dozens purple and silver irises.
It's good to have corroboration because sometimes, my brain is not really as accurate as I would wish it to be.
Take care, all.
Sylvain.
Yep, I had a whole big ol' patch of stinking irises. Just my luck! Still, when those irises were in bloom, they stopped traffic on the avenue where we lived.
Sylvain.
Hmmm, thats nice, no traffick. did it keep you out of the garden too?
The sad thing about irises is that very few are rebloomers. I didn't have any rebloomers. So, they bloomed in late June. They put in a glorious show. Then the show was over until next year. As they purport in medieval japanese erotic writings: "After the extasy of the clouds and the rain, after being one with the gods, only sadness and longing remain".
Theirises were on the front garden and I ended up giving them away in mid-August, when you should dig them up and relocate them in zone 5. A friend of mine came and got the whole kit. There must have been 200 pounds of tubers, all told. She divided them and planted them in a ditch where they are happy to this day. I planted more colorful stuff where the irises used to be.
Take care.
Sylvain.
yep, i do. i have pentunias as well, with my tiger lilies.
