While we eagerly await the ripening of our favorite summer fruits, microscopic competitors are at work multiplying and consuming them in a world beyond our sight. If we wait too long, the activity of fungi, bacteria and other microbes soon appear as an unexpected blotch, suspicious “fuzz” or oddly curled foliage.

Fruits in Decay is a new special exhibit in the Glass Flowers gallery that explores blight, rot and other diseases on summer fruits. It features exquisitely detailed glass botanical models of strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums and pears made by famed glass artist Rudolf Blaschka. On display for the first time in nearly two decades, these models capture—with astonishing realism—the intricacies and strange beauty of fruits in various stages of decay.