San Francisco’s 140-year-old house of aged wood and glass recently became a national media darling after one of its corpse flowers bloomed for the first time in years.
San Francisco was briefly home to one of the world’s largest blooming flowers over the 4th of July weekend. Scarlet, a massive Sumatran corpse flower that resides in the Conservatory of Flowers, blossomed on July 3rd before slowly deteriorating over the subsequent days. By July 9th, the over-six-foot-tall flower had almost entirely flopped over and dulled, losing its deep terracotta blush.
During its few days of bloom — a phenomenon that only happens every few years; the last time Scarlet bloomed was in 2017 — the flower attracted thousands of visitors, creating hours-long lines that snake around the greenhouse. But just how many people checked out this exotic flower while it was smelling like a days-old road kill? Well, now we know, thanks to an update from the Conservatory of Flowers.
As we conclude our Corpse Flower experience, we wanted to thank all 7,207 of you who came to meet Scarlet during the week of her bloom! Some of you came from as far away as Sacramento, Reno, and even Denver. To 62K live stream viewers – thank you for supporting Scarlet online! pic.twitter.com/TSQFTuV4DA
— SFConservatory (@SFConservatory) July 18, 2023
“As we conclude our Corpse Flower experience, we wanted to thank all 7,207 of you who came to meet Scarlet during the week of her bloom,” tweeted the greenhouse on July 17th, noting that some visitor travel as far away as “Sacramento, Reno, and even Denver” to see her blossom, IRL.
Moreover: 62,000 people chimed into the greenhouse’s live stream to check Scarlet out from the comfort of their own homes — “Thank you for supporting Scarlet online!”
While Scarlett is no longer bearing her deep-red hue, there’s still plenty of exotic flora to check out at the renowned greenhouse. (Fun fact: The Conservatory of Flowers is one of only a handful of institutions in the United States to feature a Highland Tropics display.)
The San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. For ticket information, click here.
Feature Image: Courtesy of Conservatory of Flowers
