Corpse flower in full bloom at Franklin Park Conservatory

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A week after showing signs it was happening, the Franklin Park Conservatory's famous corpse flower is in full bloom.   

The rare flower, which gives off a horrible smell, usually blooms every four to five years. Once it reaches that stage, the smell and the bloom only last for about two days. Alexis Lorentzen, the horticulture project manager at the conservatory, recalls what it was like when she saw the flower start to open.

“So, I came up here around 2:50 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday) and I saw it started to open about six or seven inches around the spadix,” Lorentzen said. “My first reaction, like, I just got an adrenaline kick and I couldn't get my text out fast enough to the rest of the staff to let everyone know. So I was super excited.”   

According to the conservatory, guests have been excited to come and see the flower. It's a once-in-a-lifetime moment that some patrons did not want to miss.   

“It's pretty incredible, you know, for one single plant to just see all these people that are so interested, whether they know a lot about this plant or they've never even heard of this plant in their life,” Lorentzen said. “It's really cool to watch people come in, get to kind of discover everything about this really unique bloom, get to smell that really stinky flesh smell. Yeah, it's a great time. We've had so many people both during our extended hours yesterday afternoon as well as all day this” 

Officials at the conservatory are telling people if they want to see the flower, do not wait. It will most likely be too late because around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday it had already started to close. The conservatory will be open until 8 p.m. Wednesday if you want a chance to view the flower.