A smelly, enormous plant named Lady MacDeath bloomed this weekend for the first time since its arrival at Norfolk Botanical Garden, attracting thousands of curious visitors. It’s a spectacle unlikely to be repeated for several years.
The garden’s corpse flower began blooming late Saturday and is expected to finish its “reign” at 10 p.m. Monday, according to garden staff.
By Monday afternoon, the plant had diminished considerably since the beginning of the bloom — its large yellow central spike had drooped and its purplish petals had nearly closed up.
A few visitors attempted to sniff out the smells of the plant — which at its peak gave off an odor of rotting flesh. But the strength of the smell had dissipated significantly since Sunday, said Les Parks, Norfolk Botanical Garden vice president of horticulture.
“Saturday night, it started smelling really bad,” Parks said. “It smells like rotten meat, or a corpse or dead animal, because insects that pollinate it are the same insects that are attracted to rotting meat.”
Ryan Hunt takes a cautious whiff of the corpse flower at the Norfolk Botanical Garden which drew thousands of visitors over the weekend. As seen Monday, July 6, 2026. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)
On Sunday, roughly 5,100 visitors waited as long as four hours to view the plant, according to garden staff. Hampton resident Hope Burns and her family braved the crowds.
“It was spectacular to see it up close, but by the time we had made it to the front (about 7 p.m.) the scent had faded to the point where I didn’t get much from it,” Burns said.
However, she said her husband was able to detect a faint scent. The 3½ hours the family spent in line was chaotic, Burns said, but they met other wonderful people and it was a good experience.
Parks said there are fewer than 1,000 corpse flowers left in the wild in Indonesia because their habitat is being destroyed to farm palm tree oil. He said it could take five to 10 years before the Norfolk plant blooms again.
The garden sold out of tickets for the short-lived event. Garden members and visitors who purchased tickets to see the plant Tuesday had their tickets honored Monday, said garden spokesperson Bella DePaulo.
Additionally, garden staff will dissect the plant and it will be on display from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Baker Hall Visitor Center.
The plant began rapidly growing in mid-June, signaling a bloom was near.
Norfolk Botanical Garden received the plant last year for its Garden of Tomorrow, a $30 million expansion project expected to open Sept. 12.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
Comments are closed.