Question
My corn plant, which I have had for several years has started budding with a highly fragrant cluster of buds on a stem.  Is this common, since I have never seen this before?
Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy,
  Congratulations to you! Corn plants rarely bloom so you must have been giving it excellent care.
The corn plant is in the Dracaena family and it's botanical name is Dracaena fragrans. It got that name because the plant gives off a very strong sweet fragrance that is noticeable for hundreds of feet away.

Corn plants often flower when they are mature and have been in the same pot (Corn plants, like a lot of other plants, will not flower unless they are rootbound) and environment for a long time. Once they reach the flowering stage though it is common for them to continue to flower every year (and sometimes even twice a year) as long as the cultural and environmental conditions remain favorable.

Because some kinds of plants die after flowering, lot of people think that their plant is going to die when it flowers. Corn Plants are not one of those plants that die after flowering.
However the center of the plant, the growing tip, will die and become inactive after flowering. The Corn plant will continue to grow by putting out a new head of foliage. This new "head" will emerge out of the center of the foliage next to where the flower stalk was. This is similar to pruning a plant and having new growth sprout below the cut.
It is also possible that more than one head may emerge. Corn plants that have branched trunks occur when two heads develop where the old flower stalk was and has matured.

There are some drawbacks to having the flowers on your Corn plant. A few of the drawbacks are ...

~ While the plant is flowering it is putting most of its energy into the flowers and not into growing new foliage.
~ The potency of the fragrance that the flowers produce can be very strong and overwhelming, especially indoors.
~ Pollen may get on the leaves and make them look dirty.
~ And worst of all, the flowers drip lots of sticky sap on your floor.

If you decide that you do not want the flowers growing on the plant then it is okay to cut the flower stalks off. This will not harm the plant in anyway (although sometimes it will encourage the plant to produce even more flowers).

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
     Thanks
       Tracy