It usually only happens once every 15 years, but they must be nurturing their plants gently at the Botanical Gardens of Copenhagen.

An exotic flower known as Amorphophallus titanum – meaning 'giant deformed penis' – may bloom in the days around 9 July, only two years after the last time the spadix stood straight up to attention, the gardeners of the Botanical Gardens announced today.

Rotten stench
The strange plant can reach three metres in height and grows in the tropical rainforests of the Indonesian island Sumatra. It has earned its other name, ‘corpse flower’, from the infamous foul stench it releases to attract pollinating insects.

While the Botanical Gardens is encouraging everyone to come and witness the rare phenomenon, visitors should also be prepared for a stench that closely resembles the smell of a rotting animal.

When it last bloomed, it attracted nearly 15,000 people and international media who came to catch a glimpse of the giant penis flower in full bloom – a period that is expected to last one to three days.