Before Christmas I wrote about the Titan arum (smelliest flower in the entire world etc...) blooming at both Kew and Eden. This happy coincidence of timing enabled the Eden plant to be fertilised with pollen taken from Kew. Though the Titan pollen had to be driven to Cornwall at some speed by the heroic Lara Jewitt, Kew Gardener, in order for all the mechanics of fertilisation to work.
All that effort has been worth it. The Eden plant is now coming into fruit,
closely guarded by Lara's Cornish counterpart, Tim Grigg (pictured
here). For those of us frustrated by the small window of opportunity
the flower offers to visitors (it lives for only about three days),
this is promising news. The weird Lords and Ladies-type fruit will be
ripening for the next six to nine months, according to Eden. And will provide millions of hilarious photo opportunities for anyone with a wide-angle lens, it looks like.
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