Linnaeus Arboretum » Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum

Perry’s Putrid Plume Prods Primeval Sense

Brian O'Brien — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:10:08 +0000

Here’s the latest roll-out of the serial tabulation of public impressions of Perry’s complex, magnificent fragrance (#4 in the series). For the previous installment, click here. Note the change in perceptions over time. I thought that the fragrance changed significantly over the couple of days that Perry was in flower (though she/he was only in top condition for about 12 hours), and that’s reflected in the comments.

As usual, exact spellings and grammar from the sniffers are preserved. Redactions are imposed at the will of the editor, so as to avoid identifying individual humans. Some of the editorial decisions are also designed to discourage further inappropriate behavior on the part of the more boorish sniffers.

Click here for a current view of Perry. Perry is in leaf right now, but will probably soon begin to go dormant, at which time we will have an interesting project – handling the inevitable crash of the giant leaf.

The Impressions:

Bl-ee-a-ch-h-h-h! but beautiful!

Dead Mouse

rotting dead mice or roadkill in the sun

I can’t smell it

Dead mouse in my house

Dead Mouse

Fish Souce

worse than a pig barn

Rotten retained bovine placenta

Boy’s Locker Room

Dead Carp

Dead Fish

Dead Raccoon (Bryan – 5 yrs old)

the primate house at the zoo

a college dorm room in May

the lake cabin after opening in spring

our cabin basement after a mouse has died

Dead Mouse

Cant say; is[?] Taste Garbage

Dead mice

Dead Mouse

Dead rats

redacted’s anus (redacted)

fish house with old fish guts

a fish house & feet! (EWWW!) Very pungeant

rotten fridge stuff after 3 weeks vacation

Dead carpe

dead fish

dead rat

fish cleaning house

dead fish

dead rotting meat

redacted pig kill

smells like redacted’s fish house!

Dead fish washed up on the beach

Rotten French Toast

rotting Fish + redacted’ cooks line

Rotting Garbage

dead cat

dead possuim

rotting fish (river carp)

Fish market or dead mice

fish

rotten fish

An Animalically Fragrant Ruby Tuesday

Brian O'Brien — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:26:54 +0000

For all of you Perry the Corpse Flower fans out there, Perry’s smaller cousin, Ruby, is now putting on a spectacular display, both visual and olfactory, in the Gustavus greenhouse (click here and here for posts on Ruby and her/his fans from last spring, along with graphic descriptions of his/her vile/sublime fragrance).

Below are thumbnails linking to some photos taken today (Tuesday…) of Tom Oelfke, Nick Murray, and your faithful blogger of things aroidal. Please stop by for a look, and perhaps a sniff, during the next few days – Ruby’s inflorescence will not last long. For those of you who are blessed with serendipitous propensities, your visit might coincide with interaction with one of a number of humans who can let you into the greenhouse to experience Ruby’s highly intense fragrance. My personal impression is that the fragrance is quite a bit more foul than Perry’s, even though Perry produced a more voluminous plume.

‘Animalic’, within the context of perfumery, refers to odors associated with animals. Ruby’s fragrance fits the bill. His/her appearance also fits…that of a deceased animal. Hey, that’s one way to go if you want to be pollinated by flies or other such creatures…

Ruby & Tom, May 5, 2009

Ruby & Nick, May 5, 2009

Ruby & Brian, May 5, 2009

Remembrance of Corpse Flowers Past

Brian O'Brien — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:48:52 +0000

This blog post will immortalize, to the extent that the Tubes of the Internet are Immortal, some of the comments left by visitors to Perry the Corpse Flower. Her/his sibling Bob, who flowered at the Marjorie McNeely (aka Como) Conservatory last spring produced similar impressions – those are stored in the memories of thousands of humans, but not on paper. The comments below reflect the olfactory experiences of the participants in the Perry event.

I have redacted both names of individual humans and comments that I deem to be too redolent of psychopathy, along with those that reek of simplistic sophomoric crudity – but otherwise, the comments are unedited.

Many more comments remain to be posted, which I will do in due course. For those that I’ve already posted, click here. For a current webcam view of Perry, click here. For some further photos of Perry’s Leaf (and associated human scale objects), click here, and for my main Perry photo cache on Flickr, click here. Click the link to the left for a webcam view of Perry.

I suggest consumption of a few madeleines while reading the remainder of this post.

THE COMMENTS:

seaweed

Rotting Fish + Seaweed

My looker room at school

rotting fish in a locker room

a big mac

POOP

week old cat box

garbage dumpster

I have smelled a body that had been dead for a week. This is very similar.

100 dead mice

Bucket of dead fish

Garbage in a hot trailer park

rotten dead fish

cat litter box

hot, sick, foul aquarium

like a dead animal covered in maggots

my laundry…

Like Limburger cheese, only fouler

A CORPES! [note: “E” was struck out]

An infusion of old hamburger and arpage perfume.
a dead animal in the ditch
like a dead body and dead bugs
NOT AS BAD AS A ROTTING ANIMAL!
A broken refridgerator’s contents
smells like my son’s feet!

1 week old diaper pail

rotten chicken

rotten food

lutefisk

it is awful

pig manury

garbage someone forgot to take out for a few days.

Bad garbage

lutefisk

Not so Bad At All!!!

A Corpse Flower

My freshman roommates laundry pile – GAC ‘82

Our dog after she rolls in a well-rotted critter!

rotting flesh

- moldy basement

ick.

Hamburger – Gone Bad

old milk carton that hasn’t been rinsed before going in trash

Rotting fish – could be worse (strong)

slightly like decomposing animal

- it smelled like our trash can

summer day washed up rotting fish

pile of waste @ the beach

Icky Refidgerator Stuff

a dead animal in summer heat

chicken in the garbage in the summer

a fart

dead body

Ditto! [arrow back to “chicken in the garbage” comment] – Double ditto! [same line]

stinky dirty laundry

me!

Compost pile @ the farm

Inside of a garbage can on a summer day

dead animal

dead mouse

dog flatulence

Dead fish rotting at low tide on the beach

dead fish

Dirty Diapers

Dead Fish

Dead Squirrel

Dead mouse in the basement

Dead fish

Dead Tree Toad under the seat of a car in summer

Smelled like dead fish

rotten meat

road kill!

dead mouse in your camper drawer

it smells like my socks when I play outside for a long time

it’s self

the couch I just threw away

our dog

New York City

Rotting fish

delicious

The Bio 102 Decomposition Lab

dead rotting fish

grandma!

dead fish

The Smell is Beyond Fish -

Dog vomit (trust me, I know…)

- seconded

Dog Poop!

Views from the Summer Solstice Garden Tour

Emily Hoefs — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:06:18 +0000

On Sunday, June 22nd, the Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum hosted a Summer Solstice Garden Tour that included gardens in southern Minnesota. The group departed from Gustavus and headed west to New Ulm making stops at both the August Schell Brewery Gardens and the home of Gigi and Scott Rysdahl, as well as New Ulm’s German Park for a delicious picnic lunch. The tour then returned to Linnaeus Arboretum to enjoy refreshments, tours, and musical entertainment. It was a beautiful day the highlighted a few of southern Minnesota’s finest gardens. Enjoy the collection of photos taken during the tour.

Summer Solstice Garden Tour

Emily Hoefs — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:28:57 +0000

Join the Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum for an early summer garden tour to three southern Minnesota botanical treasures. Van service from Linnaeus Arboretum will leave at 10:15 a.m. for the August Schell Brewery in New Ulm. German Park will be our destination for a picnic lunch. Then it’s on to the Rysdahl residence to view Gigi’s beautiful garden creations. Finally, it’s back to St. Peter for a mid-afternoon reception and specially guided tours of the Linnaeus Arboretum and the Melva Lind Interpretive Center. Relax at the end of this exciting tour with refreshments and live music provided by the Linnaeus String Quartet.

Cost is $39.00 for FLA members, and $49.00 for non-members. How do I become an FLA member? This includes van transportation from Linnaeus Arboretum, lunch, guided tours, and an afternoon reception with live music and refreshments.

For additional information, contact Shirley Mellema at (507)933-6181 or arboretum@gustavus.edu

Space is limited, so register today! RSVP by Tuesday June 17, 2008

Volunteer Day a Huge Success

Emily Hoefs — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:51:03 +0000

The volunteer day held on Saturday, October 6th was a huge success. Over 40 volunteers from the Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum, Gustavus employees, and various student organizations gathered to remove the Chinese elm found throughout the arboretum. All will be happy to hear that the arboretum is now looking much better due to the hard work of our dedicated volunteers! Thank you!

FLA Winter Warmer

Emily Hoefs — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:26:22 +0000

The Linnaeus Arboretum was pleased to host nearly 90 guests on Sunday, February 18 as Ben Laabs presented Minnesota’s glacial history. Dr. Laabs indicated the patterns of glaciation found in our current landscape. It was a wonderful gathering of friends and potential new Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum (FLA) members. If you would like to know more about FLA and how to learn of these fabulous educational venues, check out the FLA Website.

FLA Winter Warmer

Enjoying the Buffet

Speaker: Ben Laabs