Mister Stinky

It's heating up here today, perhaps up to 89? 

I woke up early so I got up at 6:00  to watch the second half of the World Cup match between Sweden and South Korea. We have a Sounder player on the Swedish team.

At 7:00 I woke Tom up so we could get our walk in before it got too hot. We walked from 8:00 to 9:00, doing our three miles, and then we spent some time working in the garden. As I stooped down to weed the vegetable garden, phew, "What died"? Then I remembered and looked up over my shoulder. 

Mister Stinky, the Voodoo Lily, Dracunculus vulgaris, was in bloom.

We knew it had a bunch of buds, but we had not checked on it for a while, and in the heat it opened up, and with the heat, it rapidly became odoriferous. It smells like carrion, of course, dead meat, and it attracts flies. 

And yet the flowers are so beautiful. BIG and beautiful!

 There are five blooms open so far, with at least three more to open.

I managed to mostly ignore the odor as I got the vegetable/cut flower garden weeded. 

 The raspberry plants are growing, but there won't be a crop this year. 

We have beans, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, chard, beets, basil, cilantro, lettuces, kohlrabi, dahlias, marigolds, asters, zinnias, and sunflowers growing. 

 And rosemary, sage and oregano. 

As for Mister Stinky, well, I'll enjoy brief visits to soak in that rich purple while not breathing deeply. And we'll hope the wind blows in an easterly direction.