Eucomis comosa

The pineapple lily, Eucomis comosa, is a summer-flowering bulb from the grasslands and damp meadows of eastern South Africa, grown the world over for one of the most whimsical flower spikes in the plant kingdom. From a large bulb rise broad, strap-shaped leaves, and out of their center in mid to late summer climbs a stout stalk two to three feet tall, densely packed with dozens of small, starry, greenish-white flowers and crowned at the very top with a tuft of leafy green bracts, the whole thing a dead ringer for a pineapple.

The resemblance is the charm, but the performance is the value. Each spike holds for weeks in the garden and even longer in a vase, opening slowly from the bottom up and often flushing pink or purple as the flowers age, followed by decorative seed capsules that extend the show into fall. The flowers carry a faint, earthy scent and draw bees, flies, and other pollinators to a plant that asks remarkably little in return.

Bold and architectural despite the modest height, Eucomis comosa works beautifully at the front or middle of a sunny border, in a gravel or rock garden, or massed in large containers where the pineapple spikes can be admired at close range. Pair the plant with fine-textured grasses and low, sun-loving perennials that set off the strong vertical form, or grow the bulb in pots that can be moved to a bright terrace and lifted under cover for winter in colder regions.

Pineapple lily is easy where summers are warm. Give the plant full sun to light shade and rich, well-drained soil, water freely during the growing season, and let the bulb dry down as the foliage yellows in fall. Hardy in the ground in USDA zones 7 through 9, especially with a winter mulch and a sheltered, well-drained spot, the bulb can be lifted and stored where winters are hard. Beyond the border, Eucomis has a deep history in South African traditional medicine, where the bulb has long been used in remedies for pain, inflammation, and fever, a heritage that modern research on the plant's compounds continues to examine.