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Sacramento's summer of corpse flowers

Second rare and stinky specimen blooms in Curtis Park

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUL 30, 2021

Quite a specimen! This corpse flower is at Public Land

Store in Curtis Par. (Photos courtesy Austin McManus/

Public Land Store)

Is Sacramento smelling more like Sumatra? For the second time this summer, the fragrance of one particularly stinky flower brings a touch of tropical jungle to another local spot for viewing – and sniffing.

Another corpse flower is about to open, this time at Public Land Store, the plant/design store and gallery on 21st Street in Curtis Park. Also called titan arum, this gigantic bloom – which can be several feet tall – is expected to open as early as Saturday.

“We are excited to be hosting the illusive and wondrous blooming of the Amorphophallus titanum –otherwise known as the corpse flower – inside our gallery here at Public Land Store,” said Austin McManus, the store’s co-owner. “All thanks to our friends over at the Sacramento State University Biological Sciences Department, we are very much honored to be able to connect the public with such a beautiful and unearthly sight.”

Native to Sumatra, the corpse flower got its nickname due to its scent, designed to attract its favorite pollinators – small flies.

Besides its unforgettable stench, the corpse flower has another distinction. This flowering plant has the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence, that pointy thing in the middle covered with clusters of little flowers.

Corpse flower in flowering state and another in vegetative state

Public Land Store has two titan arum plants: one in the flowering

state, left, and the other in its vegetative state.

“In our gallery, we have an Amorphophalus titanum in its vegetative stage and the flowering one for comparison,” McManus noted.

This seems to be Sacramento’s corpse flower summer. In June, a corpse flower bloomed in a Roseville High School greenhouse. Light and temperature-sensitive, titan arum is notoriously difficult to get to flowering stage, making two corpse flowers in one summer in the greater Sacramento area especially noteworthy.

Public Land Store is located at 2598 21st St., Sacramento. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays.

Details: https://www.publiclandstore.com/

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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