Eucomis Species, Variegated Pineapple Flower, Pineapple Lily

The flowers are definitely unusual and quite beautiful, particularly up close. One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is the smell -- I...Read More liken mine to a giant earwig. Apparently the 'sometimes foetid' smell attracts flies of various descriptions to pollinate the flowers.

Mine was ravaged by slugs last year (my first in the house) and died back completely without blooming. This year, with better protection and frequent watering, it has thrived and now has a pretty spectacular head of flowers -- it was worth the wait.

I bought 3 bulbs in the spring of 2000, starting them off in deep pots in a cold, shady greenhouse. They are late to grow in the season,...Read More and did not like it when the greenhouse became quite warm, the leaves drooped. I planted them in their present spot in the summer of that year, and they all flowered well. They also set seed well, and I now have many self set bulbs growing within a few feet of the plants. One flowered after 3 years. These young bulbs, in their 1st winter, went through prolonged frost to -9C, and they were very small and still growing near the surface. They will seat themselves lower with age.

They grow in quite fertile, sandy soil, and possibly get more shade than sun, the ground has been mulched with leafy compost 3 years ago, the plants are healthy and robust. Two are the expected colouring, i.e. purple spotting on the stems. The other has no spotting, leaves are a little longer and broader, are a little paler, and perhaps more wavy. The flowers are typical. This one had increased to so many crowns it was eventually unable to flower.

It had been suggested by an expert in the field this may have been due to frost damage. After splitting the plant and replanting a section with 15 growths it did produce some flowers. The other two had increased to 3 growths each, whereas the norm is a single crown.

Anth, from Cambridge ON.

I have had several of these wonderful bulbs in containers over the the last 3 years. They have do...Read Morene beautifully each and every year. In the fall I bring them in, remove them from the containers and store them in the basement over the winter. In mid May I pot them up again and out they go. I do take care to protect them should the forecast call for frost. Last fall I gathered the seed and potted them up in late January and early February. After about one month most had germinated and now I have many small bulblets growing very well. It will take about 5 years for the bulbs to reach flowering size.

I've planted the bulbs in may in pots. I didn't had much information at that time about this flower, but their evolution is satisfactory ...Read Moreuntill now. Although I haven't put them in full sun (because I didn't know), one of them had nice blooming (but not so rich in flowers) and get dried at the beggining of september. The others two are still in the beginning of the blooming phase. They seems to grow further. I had to help the leaves because they were hanging down, so I put a stick and tied them up. I took out the bulb from the flower that get dried and let it dry. I understood that I may plant it in the spring. I like very much this flower !

This plant is very unusual - it looks like pineapple, and has beautiful foliage. I grow mine in containers, which I keep in my basement ...Read Moreeach winter, watering once a month until spring.

I planted mine in full sun in the spring. It had a purple tinge to the leaves. Now it is all green, with not a sign of a bloom. Is thi...Read Mores the type of plant that blooms the second year? The plant has produced more leaves, but so far no blooms.

Curious plant....the flowers start off looking like a small
pineapple and slowly open. They have lasted some weeks although not as...Read More strong. The leaves of the plant itself seem
to have survived our hot summer sun. Intriging plant.

A bulbous perennial from South Africa, this plant is borderline hardy here in the UK so I suggest winter protection from zone 8 and below...Read More.

An interesting flower which is topped by a small tuft of leafy bracts.