Recently I made a drive out to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. It was a hot Tuesday in July, still very much in the time of the pandemic. My ticket purchase was followed by a text message ‘heads up’ about potentially long waits. So why would I do this? Because Sprout, Longwood Gardens’ titan arum (Amorphophallus titanium), was in full bloom.
The titan arum, aka the Corpse flower, is a rare plant species from Sumatra. The bloom of a Titan arum is even rarer, occurring once every 7-10 years, for a period of only 24-48 hours. When I heard that one was blooming 30 miles from my home, I didn’t hesitate to make the journey to see it.
The wait was four hours, outside, and in mostly direct sunlight. Everyone in line was spaced out six+ feet, and the garden staff supplied free bottles of ice-cold water. During my time in line, my purse strap broke while I was sandwiched between two families who argued about parenting during COVID while their children regularly wandered away. It was terrible, but my Fitbit tells me that I burned over 2000 calories.
At the end of the line was Sprout, the plant celebrity itself. I’m not sure what I expected. Four hours of anticipation building for a plant. It was pretty, and pretty big. Taller than me. And the infamous smell hit my nose like I was driving behind a garbage truck on the hottest day of summer with all my windows down. Sprout was all the things I’d heard it would be, but I was not sure if it was worth all the effort. After a minute of viewing it, I made way for the next people in line, and that was that. I got some cool pictures, though.
Now that some time has passed, I’m happy I went. I see the trip as less of a ‘live in the moment’ and more of a ‘this is a story’ experience. And when will I get to see a blooming corpse flower again? Probably never, because now I know to expect a long line.
Technically taller than me.
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