Smell Me! I'm a Pretty Flower!

There's nothing like grabbing your first morning cup of coffee and wondering what that rotten smell in the kitchen is?

Does the garbage need taken out?

Did I leave rancid food in the sink?

Did the dog do something bad on the floor?
 
Then I realized it is just Orbea variegata blooming on the plant stand.

I stood in my bath robe admiring her large pretty bloom while sipping my coffee.

It's such an amazing flower. The tiny hairs on the flowers edge are so delicate, the pattern is so amazing and the center part so complex. 

So, I decided while walking out the door that it should be "Take Your Stinky Flower to Work Day" and scooped her up. She rode to my office in my cup holder - just perfect for keeping the bloom safe.

Orbea variegata - Beautiful!

Such perfect stars.

Smell me! I'm a pretty flower!

People at my office know me as a little bit of a jokester. I especially love punking people or scaring them in the hallway. 

Oddly enough, people were VERY suspicious of my flower and what the sign actually meant. 

I had to reassure them that "it's only a flower".  How can a flower hurt you?!?

One person thought that perhaps it would grab her nose 'a la Audrey' in Little Shop of Horrors. 

It was so much fun to see different people's reactions to the fragrance and their descriptions of what the flower smelled like (rotten blue cheese, father's feet, 'dead' something).

It does have a very intense fragrance but you have to be very close to get the full brunt of it!

The experience is a lot like finding a bad gallon of milk in the fridge and then having someone else smell it just to prove it smells bad.

But even that bad smell makes you want to smell it over and over.

It's so bad...