Happy October! It’s officially the season of turning leaves, candy corn, caramel apples, hayrides, corn mazes, scary movies, and haunted houses. Although we love all of these things, at Julia’s Florist, we prefer to celebrate October by getting into the Halloween spirit with some of the creepiest and oddest flowers from around the world. Keep reading, if you dare!
The Strangest, Scariest Flowers That Will Make You Gasp!
Warning: These flowers are not intended for household display!
Hydnora Africana
This flower looks like something from the “Monster Mash.” Native to southern Africa, the hydnora africana lives under ground for the majority of its life. Without chlorophyll to make food from the sun’s energy, the hydnora africana cannibalistically feeds on the roots of neighboring plants. When it’s ready to reproduce, its monster-mouth flower sprouts up from the soil, emitting a foul smell that attracts dung beetles and flies. The flower then traps these pollinators inside its fleshy petals for several days, ensuring they emerge once they’re covered in pollen.
If you think the hydnora africana looks familiar, you’ve probably seen its likeness on television. It’s rumored to have inspired the plant puppet from “Little Shop of Horrors.” The terror-inducing flower also resembles the monsters in the movie “Tremors” and Netflix’s “Stranger Things” series.
Hydnora-Africana
Titan Arum
This native flower of Sumatra has a reputation for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s unbelievably large. This flower can reach impressive heights of up to 20 feet and a girth of 16 feet across. It also only blooms rarely, sometimes only once per decade. You might remember it from 1993’s “Dennis the Menace” in which Dennis ruins Mr. Wilson’s chance to witness the flower bloom. Another striking feature of this flower is its horrendous stench. The smell of the flower is strong and has been said to resemble a combination of rotting fish, sweaty socks, chloraseptic, limburger cheese, and feces with a slight hint of sweetness.
Titan Arum – Sumatran Corpse Flower
Stinking Corpse Lily
As the stinking corpse lily’s name suggests, it also emits a quite pungent odor. Also a native to Sumatra, this flower reeks of decaying flesh, which attracts its pollinators, beetles, and flies. It’s also a staggeringly large specimen. Boasting the world’s largest single blooming flower, the stinking corpse lily can stretch up to nearly three-and-a-half feet from petal to petal. It’s an odd flower, as it doesn’t grow roots, leaves, or stems. Instead, it lives more like a parasitic fungus, consuming nutrients from the vines it lives in.
Corpse Lily
Try These in Your Halloween Arrangements, Instead
You don’t have to stink out the whole neighborhood to use flowers in your Halloween decorations. We recommend decorating with these pleasant-smelling flora, instead.
Black Roses
Blacker than the darkest night, black roses are dyed especially for the haunting season. They’re elegant in an all-black Halloween wedding bouquet, but can also provide a macabre atmosphere at a Halloween gathering. For a festive touch, add a variety of orange and yellow blooms, a holiday ribbon, and some glittery spiders or bats for fun.
Snapdragon Seed Pods
Are these flora or long-deceased fauna? At first glance, it’s hard to tell. These miniature skull-like baubles actually live their lives as vibrantly blooming snapdragon flowers. When the flowers die, the seed pods open up, releasing seeds to bloom the next season. They leave behind these oddly shaped seed pods that strongly resemble human skulls. They make the perfect, natural Halloween decor. We recommend adding them to your front door’s floral wreath or popping them into arrangements of other flowers for a grim accent.
Chrysanthemums
October doesn’t have to be all about scary things; it’s also the time for celebrating autumn. This cozy time of year is marked with warm apple cider, baking pumpkin pies, and jumping in piles of leaves. Capture this feeling with the traditional cheerfulness of chrysanthemums. These flowers bloom abundantly in a whole spectrum of colors, including all of our fall favorites like burgundy, gold, yellow, and orange. Deck out your front door with potted mums to welcome trick-or-treaters, but be sure to bring the flowers inside before a frost.
Black Rose
Snapdragon Seed Pods
Orange Mums
Sensationally Spooky Flowers for October and Halloween
Celebrate October with cheerfully or frightfully arranged autumn flowers from Julia’s Florist. Whether you need a centerpiece for a harvest dinner, front door adornments to prepare for trick-or-treaters, or ghoulish bouquets for a costume party, our professional florists can help you select the perfect flowers for your decorating theme.
Or, for an instant fall feel, check out our Pumpkin Delight and Harvest Pumpkin. Either way, stop by our shop or get online to order your fall flowers today!
