eucomis

Eucomis comosa, this is a great plant, so exotic looking and the pale green color marked with burgundy is so rich. I potted this up in mid January, a tad early but the bulbs I had kept over were starting to sprout so I figured I'd follow the timing they wanted. Needless to say it's a bit early for New England spring. I wanted to put it on my counter for a recent dinner party and had it all prettied up and sitting there late afternoon. I went out to cut some quince blossoms and when I came back inside ---what was that smell? Ugh, something of a cross between propane gas and rotting fruit. You guessed it, Eucomis aka Pineapple Lily, definitely an out door plant, now gracing my back door porch. P.U. I got the original bulb maybe in 2000 at the old Heronswood in Washington State. I made field trips to the nursery for several years while my daughter was in school in Olympia and combined visits to my brother and sister-in-law on the Olympic penisula. What a great plant spot!!!! It was such a great place to visit to see all the gardens and so many interesting plants from so many far flung places. Now we do get to hear from Dan Hinkley in Garden Design and that is great but the nursery and gardens were so personal it was as if you were walking around with an old friend.

Of course, one great thing about the gloomy Washington fall is that the moist overcast lighting is perfect for viewing and photographing plants! I also remember coming around a corner into a garden with a large patch of Phygelius New Sensation with a backdrop of Fuchsia m. aurea absolutely glowing in the rain. It's raining now reminding me of these glorious flowers in the mist.