October has arrived, along with everything spooky and scary! At Breen’s Florist in Houston, our florists like to get in the Halloween spirit with seasonal flowers and a few that are out of this world. When you’re not busy screaming your way through a haunted house, visiting a corn maze, or picking out your costume for the 31st, you can get a fright by checking out some of the most frightening flowers on Earth.
Top 3 Flowers Too Scary for a Bouquet
1. Hydnora Africana
Hydnora-Africana
Native to southern Africa, this subterranean plant lives entirely underground, feeding off nutrients from the roots of innocent, nearby plants. The Hydnora Africana’s flowers look more like sharp-toothed, hungry monster mouths and emerge only when the plants are ready to reproduce. These unsightly blooms emit a pungent, foul-smelling odor that attracts the flower’s favorite pollinators, dung beetles and flies. When an unsuspecting insect crawls inside, the flower’s mouth snaps shut, trapping the bug inside, until it’s gathered enough pollen.
2. Titan Arum
Sumatran corpse flower – Titan Arum
This Sumatran gargantuan plant gets its name from the Greek word for giant, titan. When blooming, the titan arum sprouts a cone of several flowers. In total, these plants can grow to an imposing 20 feet high and 16 feet across. They also emit a stench as foul as the plant is large. The titan arum’s aroma has been described as a nauseating bouquet of dirty socks, Limburger cheese, Chloraseptic, rotting fish, and a hint of sweetness.
3. Stinking Corpse Lily
Stinking Corpse Flower
Another Sumatran favorite, the stinking corpse lily emits, as its name suggests, a rancid odor that’s often compared to the smell of decaying flesh. This beast of a flower is the largest single blooming flower in the world, reaching diameters of nearly three-and-a-half feet. If the size and smell isn’t enough to scare you, this odd bloom has basically nothing else in common with other flowers. It grows no leaves, stems, or roots, but rather takes on the characteristics of a fungus. It lives inside and feeds off of host vines and only emerges as a bud when it’s ready to reproduce.
Decorate with These Halloween Flowers Instead!
You don’t have to cross oceans in search of foul-smelling plants to celebrate October with flowers! You can get everything scary, yet pleasantly perfumed, right here in Houston. We recommend decorating your October with spine-tingling arrangements of the following flowers:
Black Rose
Orange Mums
Snapdragon Seed Pods
Sunflower
Black Roses
Black roses don’t actually grow naturally; talented florists dye them for occasions such as Halloween. Natural or not, black roses will add an eerie, macabre vibe to your October decor. Featured in all-black bouquets or paired with other festive blooms, these sweet-smelling beauties achieve the perfect atmosphere.
Chrysanthemums
In fall, chrysanthemums bloom in abundance and feature the warm, welcoming colors of autumn’s changing leaves. Available in shades of yellow, orange, burgundy, and all the hues in between, chrysanthemums actually represent cheerfulness and will brighten your entryway, hearth, or kitchen table.
Snapdragon Seed Pods
When brilliantly colored snapdragons die in the fall, they leave behind seed pods that have an odd resemblance to skulls. Used alone or as accents in larger October floral arrangements, snapdragon seed pods add an eerie touch with the look of miniature skeleton heads on a stick.
Sunflowers
These beauties can be found in just about every color of the autumn rainbow. They’res sunny, warm, and welcoming. Used on their own, paired with a cute scarecrow, or in a big bouquet, your home will look simply cozy and pretty for celebrating October.
Create a Unique Houston Halloween
At Breen’s Florist, our professionals are experts in everything October, Halloween, and Autumn! We’ll help you select and design the perfect flowers to enjoy a festive October and a haunting Halloween, or just celebrate the season with the colorful and unique flowers currently in bloom like our Wild About Autumn and Colors of the Wind bouquets.
Drop by our floral shop, call, or visit us online today!
