Only A Few Days Left To See The Summer Flower Show!

Summer Still in Bloom for the Garden Guy: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Possible seeds?? Big tuber!!

We discovered these seed looking structures this week on our corpse flower, BOB,too. After the initial excitement, it was determined that these were not viable seed and the reddish orange fruits were empty....

This is the large empty looking pot in the support greenhouse that holds the tuber for BOB,too. The structure sticking out in the middle is actually the base of the inflorescence. The strange looking material on the left is the dried up inflorescence.

It was thought that we might have some seeds that had developed!!

After opening all the red berry looking structures, it was found that they were all empty. So sad......


But there is a bright side to this story! Here is our Corpse Flower grower with the tuber of BOB,too!! It looks healthy and has only a few spots of rot that were treated. The tuber weighs 43lbs and 3/4 ounces! That is a change from the pre-flowering weight of the tuber. In December 2010 the tuber weighed 55 lbs 1 ounce. Now we need to get this tuber back in the pot and allow it to develop the big leaf that will channel more nutrients back into the ever growing tuber!

43 lbs and 3/4 ounce!

Blooming Corpse Flower Follow up!

As we were looking over the Gardener Blog from the great blooming Corpse Flower event in June 2011, we happened to notice that there were not any photos of the fully opened inflorescence (flower). So, to finish that chapter in the story of this great plant, here are a few photos of BOB,too the day after it started to open! This plant finally reached a height of 6'3"!!!

Edible Garden Featured on FOX-9

You'll find it at the Como Park Zoo And Conservatory in Saint Paul. It's an 8,000 square foot garden that looks more like the produce section of the grocery store than a garden. Garden Guy Dale K. stopped by for a bite.

Edible Garden at Como Zoo: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

The Corpse Flower has been moved off display

This morning, after a great 2 weeks out in our Parlor here at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, BOB,too the Corpse Flower was moved back to the support greenhouse. The inflorescence is still partially upright but is expected to eventually collapse completely. The underground tuber will recharge a bit then we expect to see a new bud emerging from the soil in the next month or so. The hope is that we will get another huge leaf growing for the next few years. Then, who knows what could potentially happen! Maybe we will get another flower bud on this plant in 3-4 years! Time will tell!

Roots, Shoots & Fruits Featured on KSTP-TV!

So, while we are still waiting...

While we wait....

OK. This is the time that many horticulturists anticipate when growing the Corpse Flower .......there is little visible change and the bud is looking so ready to open at anytime. The only question that is asked now is "When will it bloom???" Well, we do not have a good answer for that inquiry at this moment!! Our guess is that it will bloom this week and possibly earlier than later in the week. It has reached the 6'1" height mark and 2 of the 3 leaf looking structures at the base have dried up and fallen down. So we know we are progressing, but at slower rate than many of us can easily handle!!! We are all waiting as anxiously as everyone else to see what this plant will look like when the bud opens. Stay tuned!

It is a cool and cloudy Saturday

Yesterday's warmer and brighter weather made a difference in the growth curve for this plant!! There was an idea that maybe, just maybe, the upward growth had slowed down and we were going to see the outward growth pick up. Well, this mornings height measurement was 68"! That is 4 inches more than yesterday!

For those of you that have not had the chance to stop in at the Conservatory yet, here is a comparison of the grower of this plant at 5'8" with the actual size of the inflorescence and pot! Kinda cool!

More red coloring than yesterday!

BOB,too in the Parlor at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory this morning!

If we had to guess on a bloom date..........maybe????? Monday? Tuesday? Watch that webcam!

There is a change coming...

64" tall today and 36 3/4" around the widest part of the bud! The upward growth is now slowing and the girth measurements are starting to increase. We are still on track for a bloom soon! How soon is still the question!

There is more red/maroon coloring starting to show in the spathe.

And the first fly to find it's way to the Parlor has been noticed!! It is always amazing how the flies can find this plant! Do you think that this little guy knows something we don't??

Still hoping to see a bloom some time early next week....