Question
Dear Rick,
I live in Westminster,Md.  I have two purple passions (they are purple "fuzzy" leafed plants, their leaves are similar to african violets, but purple.  In any event, I fertilized them heavily, and they have established yellow blooms of some sort.  Pretty, but these blooms have a terrible smell to them, almost "fungal" smelling!
Needless to mention, I cut off those stems and put them in H2O outside.  I cannot stand that smell in my house!
Do you know what they are?  Years ago I had this type of plant, but I have never experienced this "blooming".
Thanks for whatever you can tell me.
Darlene

Answer
i'm in southern NJ.
they are the flowers of the purple passion plant. they smell like dog pooh. if given enough sun they bloom easily in a greenhouse. remove the flowers before they open and have a chance to stink, it's a beautiful plant, but the flowers smell terrible. that allows it to attrack certain insects(mostly flies) to pollinate it. removing the flowers will actually help the plant produce nicer foliage.
good luck
rick
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