In August 2013, all previous Phipps attendance records were shattered with the blooming of our Amorphophallus titanium, or corpse flower. Best known for emitting an overwhelming scent resembling that of rotting flesh, the giant wonder attracted more than 12,000 visitors to the Conservatory during its 48-hour bloom-and-stink period. The flower, named Romero, is pictured here pre-bloom with his legendary namesake, filmmaker George A. Romero, whose famous Night of the Living Dead movie was filmed in and around Pittsburgh. To everyone's surprise, Romero would bloom again just three years later, and a "sister" plant, named "Barbara" for Living Dead's protagonist, bloomed for the first time in 2017.

Photo © Natalie Bowman