I Was So Excited When it Bloomed....
A few years ago a friend was moving and gave us his huge corn plant. It has been very happy. About a week ago I was surprised to see that it was blooming (flowers much whiter than those in the picture)!
Yesterday morning we noticed a light scent in the house and determined it was the flowers of the corn plant. However by late afternoon it was getting stronger. My son ate dinner right next to it and declared it was strong, but okay. As the evening wore on I became more concerned. It had become very noticeable throughout the entire house. The flowers were quite attractive, but was the smell just too strong? Well, I woke up at 1:30am and the first thing I noticed was the smell. Tried burying my nose in the blankets, but it didn't work. So down I went, grabbed some scissors, cut off the three flowering stems and chucked them out onto the deck. Then I went and opened doors and swung them back and forth to get the air moving, hopefully to speed up the exit of the stench.
While looking for a picture online I discovered that the Latin name is Dracaena fragrans Massangeana. Note the word fragrans...
I have been reminded of my time at a bed and breakfast in Costa Rica, where one of the owners was happy to find the source of a scent she detected outside. She brought a single stem in and it scented the room. I am quite sure that this is the very same plant, as it was growing all over Costa Rica, and is used for living fences.
The picture is from a website that has an HUGE number of pictures of tropical plants, including fruit I haven't heard of: Top Tropicals.
Yesterday morning we noticed a light scent in the house and determined it was the flowers of the corn plant. However by late afternoon it was getting stronger. My son ate dinner right next to it and declared it was strong, but okay. As the evening wore on I became more concerned. It had become very noticeable throughout the entire house. The flowers were quite attractive, but was the smell just too strong? Well, I woke up at 1:30am and the first thing I noticed was the smell. Tried burying my nose in the blankets, but it didn't work. So down I went, grabbed some scissors, cut off the three flowering stems and chucked them out onto the deck. Then I went and opened doors and swung them back and forth to get the air moving, hopefully to speed up the exit of the stench.
While looking for a picture online I discovered that the Latin name is Dracaena fragrans Massangeana. Note the word fragrans...
I have been reminded of my time at a bed and breakfast in Costa Rica, where one of the owners was happy to find the source of a scent she detected outside. She brought a single stem in and it scented the room. I am quite sure that this is the very same plant, as it was growing all over Costa Rica, and is used for living fences.
The picture is from a website that has an HUGE number of pictures of tropical plants, including fruit I haven't heard of: Top Tropicals.
posted by Muriel at 10:32 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home