A Double Delight

Just imagine how tickled pink I was to discover I’ve not one, but two pineapples growing in my front garden.

The first pineapple I spoke of (back on September 5) is actually growing from a pup.

“What’s a pup?” I hear you ask.  Well, generally speaking, when bromeliads reach maturity they stop producing leaves and put all their energy into creating a bloom.  Some bromeliads have rather unique and stunning formations.  This is their main allure.  Sadly though, as the plant is putting on its floral display – often for months – it’s also dying.  One plant, one flower.

But again, generally speaking, it’s at this point that they divert a bit of that energy into producing an offshoot from their base, a new (baby) plant called a pup.  Sometimes, the mother plant will produce several, not just one.

Pups are an exact copy of the mother plant, this is how they propagate.  So even though the plant dies after flowering, it also leaves behind a new plant for you to continue to enjoy.

My pineapple threw out a pup shortly after I planted it.  I can’t explain why, but it did, and the result is that I now have two plants flowering and ultimately producing fruit.

I have no idea how long they take to mature, but I’ll ask my friend Esther.  Esther and her husband have a pineapple farm and I’m sure she will give me a few tips when I see her on Friday night.

– ⋅ o ♥ o ⋅ –

This is still my Flower of the Month (it may be for more than one month) and it’s also my next entry for the Flower of the Day (FOTD) photo challenge hosted by Cee’s Photography.