Three years later, this particular dragon lily is right outside, and continues to bloom annually. It remains canned until I find an appropriate situation for it, and even then, it will likely remain potted for containment. I do not want it to naturalize.
Rhody was not impressed, and he is an expert on fragrance.
Dracunculus vulgaris – dragon lily. It was featured in the gardening column for next week, both as an illustration for the main topic, and as the ‘highlight’ species. It is as unappealing as the name and the pictures suggest, but it sure is interesting. It has several more equally unappealing common names. We know it as ‘death arum’ because that is the first name we came up with.
Besides, it smells like death. Yes, it stinks. It does so to attract flies for pollination. Actually, it attracts quite a few annoying insects. I can not explain why, but insects who congregate around stinky flowers are as unappealing as the fragrance that draws them. They are certainly very different from the appealing bees and butterflies who pollinate flowers with appealing fragrance.
The first of these death arums mysteriously appeared in…
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Tony Tomeo 
MMMmm, not. Great Rhody shot.
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It is an appropriate reaction to the fragrance.
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