IWAS GIVEN A POT OF EUCOMIS BICOLOR, the so-called pineapple lily (guess how it got that name), by a friend who was moving and couldn’t take it along. Why had I forgotten how easy this wacky-looking South African character, whose genus name means well-haired because of the tuft of brachts topping the flowerhead, is for overwintering in the basement here? From its moptop to the purple-mottled stems and freckled leaves to its long-lasting, trouble-free performance, there’s nothing about Eucomis bicolor that I don’t like—except that I don’t have more.
When I was given my pot in May, only some of its purple-spotted foliage was showing; Eucomis bicolor awakens relatively late in spring. I set the pot absent-mindedly in the sun on a bench by the front walk, and watered it each week—but that’s it. The foliage would have been a satisfying result enough, but then in July the flowers started. (OK, maybe the plant does have one little downside: The blooms are not sweet-scented, but kind of funky-smelling.) The pot probably has five bulbs in it—the three my friend planted and some younger offsets that aren’t blooming size yet. Even the first bulb that bloomed, more than a month ago, continues to look good, and is setting handsome green seeds.
You know I love “investment plants” that serve to color up the main gardening season year after year but stash easily indoors—whether as houseplants proper, or dormant in the 45-to-50ish-degree cellar like the Eucomis, or (for the toughest of all) just protected from the ice and wind inside the frigid barn. I am definitely making room for more pots of pineapple lily and its various cousins. With the Eucomis, topdress with all-natural organic bulb food according to package directions when the bulbs begin to awaken and you are watering again each spring, and keep the bulbs well-watered while in active growth for best display.
Other Eucomis species are well-represented at B&D Lilies, among other places, but here’s the hitch: You can’t get them from bulb-vendors until the spring catalog. Plant Delights Nursery sells them potted, like nursery perennials, including ‘Sparkling Burgundy,’ with fantastic wine-colored foliage. I’m tempted to order now.
Eucomis can be propagated by seed, I have since read, but take four years to reach flowering size. A Pacific Bulb Society member recommends growing them from leaf cuttings, and starting from the Eucomis page on their site you can see a wide range of species and varieties. Perhaps you are lucky enough to garden in a zone where some of them are hardy?
What an interesting looking plant! I’ve never seen this before. I love the wacky purple-spotted leaves .
Hi, Sunita. The leaves are beautiful, and the stems are all purple-splotched, too. Glad you like. :)
I love it! Now, where to put it…
I have one in ground that has never bloomed for me :( It just grows foliage, and then thats it! Perhaps I need to move it to a container….
What a great plant. It definitely is a good choice for a pot so you can study/admire all the spotting and matching edging and color of the flowers.
Leaf cutting work great but I find that they reproduce themselves so willingly by offsets that I stopped propagating them by leaf cuttings. They spend the winter in the basement (frost free) without any care and they always come back. The burgundy leaf eucomis is also fantastic! To your list of plants to stash easily in the basement I would add Salva patens, the only salvia that I know of that has roots that resemble tubers. I treat it like I treat my dahlias.
I had one of the burgundy ones in the ground last year that i failed to dig up. With all the snow we had here in Western MA (ozone 5), it survived the winter and is just starting to bloom now. One tough plant…though I won’t try it again!
Yes, Terrik, I suspect your plant needs potting! I had some cape lily plants in a pot, as I am zone 5. They did great, but didn’t flower for years, that is, until the pot was bulging with foliage! Then, what a show!
i potted this wonderful bulb , not knowing what to expect. i’ll try to overwinter it as youve explained.
Hi, Jeanette. I wish us both well in our first winter together with Eucomis. My friends have done it for years — so glad they gifted me a pot to get me inspired.
count me in, I gave one to my daughter, didn’t even know what it was.
I recieved a pinaple lilly and it isso pretty however i live in az. and it gets really hot here in the summer would it be best to grow it inside and also when the flowers begin to look dry do i cut the stem and flowers off????
Hi, Nancy. It’s supposed to be hardy to Zone 10, and you can see the map for its in-the-ground hardiness range here. It’s from South Africa, so I presume it knows how to deal with long dryspells, but I of course have not tried it in the arid zone of the U.S. so I am guessing. As for aftercare, yes, I would deadhead it (taking off the flower stem) but I’d let the leaves wither on their own, before removing them.
I have had a Pineapple Lily for the past four years. My leaves are dark purple and the flower is awesome. I live in Zone 6 on L.I. NY and have kept it outdoors in the ground for four years. Today I looked and I have two plants growing now. Life is Good!
Hooray, Marie. Love hearing that. I just bought more bulbs and may try some in a protected spot in the ground myself!
I too have pineapple lily I have it planted near the house and leave it out all winter
We are in zone 5 It just gets bigger and more full every year
I have one also. Just discovered it this spring. I was so excited by its picture, I bought one for my gramma, neighbor, aunt, and myself with the cute teacup pots for spring. They are lovely! The package says fragrant and excellent cut flowers. After its bloom, its fragrance is nothing to pleasant. It’s strange, very strange. Some call it stinky even and I can’t see it as a cut flower. Other than that….I absolutely love this new discovery!!
Hi, Rosie, and you are right: It stinks! :) Sweet story about the gifts you gave, however. Hope to see you again soon.
I am looking for other blooming bulbs to use as houseplants. I have the pineapply lily and love it. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hi, Mary. You can force various outdoor bulbs into bloom a little ahead of time indoors. How to force bulbs indoors. Of course some (such as Amaryllis) are classic “houseplants”. Now if you really want to get into some rarities that are often grown in greenhouses (such as at botanical gardens) but less so by home gardeners as houseplants, maybe browse here.