Barb’s Voodoo

For the past few weeks, I had been helping my friend Barb out by keeping an eye on her voodoo lily while she trotted the globe.  My task was to photography & measure the lily & send her measurements daily. Funny enough, I did it with child like excitement.

In a matter of 3 short weeks it grew almost 3 feet in height. I was waiting for the day it said “feed me.”

As the flower started to get bigger & bigger, I became overly anxious to see one of the strangest flowers ever. You see voodoo lilies only bloom every other year or so (some bloom after 2 or three years, some even less frequent) & they smell like rotting meat & its VERY strong.

Barb had warned me that the smell would be raunchy, but I just was not ready for the true funk that came from the exotic beauty.

Fun Facts (I like fun facts):

– Voodoo lilies are pollinated by flies who are attracting by the stench
– Voodoo lily flower stalks arise from the bulbs and can quickly grow to 6 feet in about 2 weeks
– Voodoo lilies are cultivated, harvested, and processed as a food item in parts of southeastern Asia

If you interested in seeing a voodoo lilly bloom, check out this time-lapse video produced by the United States Botanical Garden.