Each of our conversations has followed a sort of same-plant-different-experience theme. My creativity is confined to seasonal pots, while Mr. Farmer has to contend with the rigors of his Deep South climate, where the summer nights can be nearly as hot as the days, so he is ever seeking plants with appropriate mettle.
No matter our differing situations, what we love about our respective pineapple lilies is unanimous: Oh, those leaves.
“They give you that big, wide kind of tropical foliage effect all season,” Mr. Farmer said.
And there are not just a couple of leaves, but enough strappy ones to encircle the emerging flower stem like a lush nest. The leaves can be green or purple, or even freckled with purple, animallike spots, as can the stems.
We love the summertime blooms, too, of course. The many tiny flowers are tightly arrayed around the upper portion of each stem and capped with a tousled topknot of leaflike bracts, making the inflorescence resemble a pineapple. That feature explains the plant’s Latin name, Eucomis, from a Greek word for “good-haired.”
“The cooler thing: When they go out of flower, they look more or less like they did in flower,” Mr. Farmer said. “They maintain their structure and color, so you get a show for a really long time.”
Most have no roadkill scent, in case that raises objections. E. bicolor’s stench of sulfur compounds is an adaptation that attracts carrion flies as pollinators. Other species, pollinated by specialized wasps, smell perfectly pleasant — the scent of coconut is sometimes mentioned — and are marketed as dramatic, long-lasting cut flowers.
