Catasetum tenebrosum blooms!

Well, it finally happened and my living room smells like blackcurrant, honey, and cat pee. Why? Because that's what the flowers of Catsetum tenebrosum smell like!

This is not an "easy care" orchid, and it looks pretty dreadful most of the year.

That's what makes these few days in early summer so special. When "Cat" finally shows her strange black flowers with the golden centers, everyone is amazed. It's kind of like that grumpy, antisocial person you try to coax into a smile with no success, then one day, she cracks a joke and hugs you. Or something like that.... Anyway, with Cat the joke is off-color, as that cat-pee perfume is definitely less than charming. Still, some plants have their own, off-color charm, don't they?

Catasetum tenebrosum in bloom, Marla Robb, June 2015

They're not going to clone this one on an orchid farm in Thailand anytime soon, that's for sure. And that's one of the reasons I love it.