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Putricia, the corpse flower, is in bloom!

The time is now! Frederik Meijer Gardens has never smelled so bad, and that's a good thing! Putricia, the corpse flower, has bloomed.

GRANDS RAPIDS, Mich - The time is now! Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has never smelled so bad, and that's a good thing! Putricia, the corpse flower, has bloomed.

For a live look at the flower, click here.

Steve LaWarre is the Director of Horticulture at Meijer Gardens and he said it's like Christmas for him and the rest of the staff.

"It's a beautiful stink," said LaWarre. "It's opening, we think it's about at peak width, so now is the time to check it out."

The gardens have been growing the seedling for 18 years.

"I'm hoping our next flower will be only 3 to 5 years from now," LaWarre said.

It's the first time a lot of the team, including Steve, have worked with a blooming corpse flower.

"Every year it grows a big leaf," said LaWarre. "This is the first year that it's bloomed for us."

The stench serves a specific purpose.

"Its color and its fragrance is what it's using to attract pollinators," LaWarre said. "So it's typically pollinated by flies, beetles, those types of things, things that you would normally see on dead corpses and stuff."

Meijer Gardens is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, July 12. The corpse flower is only in bloom for 24 to 36 hours, so now is the time!

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