CHICAGO — It's getting stinky at Chicago Botanic Garden.
One of two corpse flowers at the Chicago Botanic Garden has bloomed — emitting such a stench that no one will remember that a similar flower failed to bloom even after attracting thousands of visitors to the same locale two years ago.
The Botanic Garden's "Titan Twins," named Java and Sumatra, appeared to be getting ready to bloom last week, officials said. Java bloomed Wednesday, its flower emitting a smell that's described as a combination of "limburger cheese, garlic, rotting fish and smelly feet."
In 2015, a corpse flower at the Botanic Garden, Spike, had an epic fail, after thousands visited the Botanic Garden late into the night only to never see the flower. Later that year, however, another corpse flower at the garden, Alice, did bloom.
The blooming of corpse flowers is rare, only happening every seven to 10 years.
Java is nearly 52 inches tall and 34 inches wide, while Sumatra is 45 inches tall and 40 inches wide. The Titan Twins are the fourth and fifth corpse flowers to begin their bloom cycles at the Botanic Garden out of a collection of 17 such plants. Both plants have been at the Botanic Garden since 2008.
The bulbs of the Titan Twins are more than 110 pounds each, double the size of the bulbs of previous titan arums on display, and may end up being either taller or wider than previous titan arums, according to the Botanic Garden.
The Garden will be open Thursday at 8 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
