Our visit to NYC coincided with the blooming of this rare Corpse Flower at the NY Botanical Garden. These flowers bloom only every 7 to 10 years, and the bloom period only lasts about 48 hours.
This particular plant had been in their conservatory since 2007 without blooming, and it was the first Corpse Flower to bloom in New York since 1939. We adjusted our plans to make a visit to see the flower on Saturday, July 30, the only full day during which the bloom was visible.
The area did contain some wafting unpleasant smells, though the odour thankfully wasn’t as overpowering (nor destructive) as was portrayed on The Simpsons.
The NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx opened an hour earlier than normal on July 30th to accommodate the crowds that they knew would come to see the flower. We arrived at the Conservatory building shortly after opening and had to wait about 15 minutes in this line — by later in the morning the line had grown enormous and was probably several hours long.
Inside, the Conservatory was well-worth visiting even without the excitement of a Corpse Flower. The sprawling glass building contains thousands of plants and trees arranged in different habitats, including rainforests and deserts.
In the central courtyard is a smooth pond filled with waterlilies and other floating plants.
Our Botanical Gardens visit gave us a good chance to visit the Bronx, something we’d never done aside from a quick jaunt to Yankee Stadium a couple years ago. It was about a 15-minute walk along Bedford Park Boulevard to the nearest subway stop.
