There is nothing like a lovely stroll through a flower garden, the sweet, fragrant scents of the blooms surrounding you, as if you're in the world's best spa. Nature's aromatherapy! Well... not always ...

In late winter, in the swampy lowlands of the northeastern United States, you might catch a whiff of rotting flesh. The unlikely source is flowers—maroon pointy things, the size of fists, that ...