Thanks to all who visited and watched online! We will post a complete video of Peter's first bloom soon!

Peter Grande Default Title - $78.00 USD $78.00 Quantity Buy Now

Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Garden is excited to announce its first flowering of the rare Titan Arum...Amorphophallus titanum, named Peter Grande. The trend of naming Amorphophallus clones is both a great way to keep track of flowering clones as well as a source of great amusement. Some of the more unusual names include Audrey, Rotney, The Amazing Stinko, Carrion My Wayward Son, Pepe Le Pew, Morticia, and Pewtunia.

Our Titan arum flower began to open on July 6 around 1:30pm. This coincided with the first weekend of Plant Delights' Summer Open Nursery and Garden Days, which are July 6-8 and July 13-15 this year. The nursery was open extended evening hours until 8pm to allow ample opportunity to witness this rare horticultural occurrence.

Peter Grande's Growth Chart Click here for a photo gallery. Date Height 06/16/2018 15" 06/21/2018 29" 06/22/2018 33.5" 06/23/2018 35.75" 06/24/2018 38.75" 06/25/2018 42.5" 06/26/2018 46" 06/27/2018 51" 06/28/2018 55.5" 06/29/2018 60" 06/30/2018 63" 07/01/2018 66" 07/02/2018 71" 07/03/2018 73" 07/04/2018 74.5" 07/05/2018 76" 07/06/2018 77"

Amorphophallus titanum has a larger than life reputation because of its enormous floral show…the largest unbranched inflorescence in the plant kingdom, ranging from 3' to 12’ tall. The inflorescence, which is often called a "flower", remains open for only 24-48 hours.

Native to the understory of the Sumatran rainforest, where it is considered a highly vulnerable species, Amorphophallus titanum has been in cultivation since at least 1889 when a specimen flowered at the UK's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since then, just over 570 Titan Arums have flowered in cultivation worldwide, with just over 350 of those being in the United States.

The Plant Delights specimen, Peter Grande, was the ninth to flower in North Carolina. In 2005, Plant Delights Nursery learned that UNC-Charlotte Botanical Gardens had lost their large Amorphophallus titanum due to a winter greenhouse heater failure, so it donated its largest specimen to the gardens, which flowered there in 2007…the first recorded flowering of a Titan Arum in North Carolina. Our current flowering Titanum is 8 years old, and was propagated here from a leaf cutting.

As part of our mission to propagate and share rare plants, Plant Delights Nursery has sold over 1100 nursery propagated plants (since 1997) of Amorphophallus titanum to gardeners around the world. Small plants of Amorphophallus will be available for purchase during the flower viewing, as well as on our website, as long as our supply lasts.

For the last three years, we have worked to compile a comprehensive listing of all documented Amorphophallus titanum flowerings, since the best list we could find on-line missed nearly 300 flowerings. We have also included the flower dates, sizes, plant history, etc. If you know of any more that we’ve missed, please let us know.

Click here to view our sortable table of historic Amorphophallus titanum flowerings.

Juniper Level Botanic Garden is a research and conservation botanic garden, supported currently by Plant Delights mail order nursery. To ensure that the garden and its work remains viable, our endowment is set up through the NC Agricultural Foundation at NC State University. To contribute, make checks payable to NC Ag Foundation and specify Juniper Level Botanic Garden endowment. Checks can be dropped off at the nursery and garden or mailed directly to NC Agricultural Foundation.

Learn More About Amporphophallus titanum

JLBG Adjunct Researcher Alan Galloway, the world's leading Amorphophallus expert, will be on hand to answer questions and inform visitors about this amazing species.

Check out our article with tips to help you grow your own Titan Arum.

The Royal Botanic Garden, Kew has a page with detailed information on Amorphophallus titanum in general, and their recent flowerings.

Mother Nature Network covered Peter's blooming and pollination, including an interview with Tony.

Amorphophallus titanum Trivia