Sharon said:The one in the picture was an accident. It was early spring about 5 or 6 years ago and I was buying annuals for a large pot. It would be seen from every angle so I was looking for something with good foliage that would add height to the center. I know a lot of nurseries use a type of dracena for that kind of centerpiece with annuals but the nursery where I was said they were out of 'spikes' -- their name for the commonly used dracena. But he told me that he had something else that might work in the same way that the dracena worked for tall spiky foliage. So I agreed and took two of those he chose, two because I have a very large pot to fill.
It grew in the center of the pot all that summer and though it didn't increase in size very much, it remained green and spiky, just what I wanted. The pot is huge and as the annuals died back that fall, I'd clean them out of the pot. Seemed as if that spike didn't die or turn brown or anything for the longest time and I simply forgot it that fall, moving the pot back behind the chair that remained in the garden.
Spring came and I went out to get the pot ready for new annuals. I could not believe it, that spike had started growing again. I had no idea what it was, only that it survived our winter, so I decided I would plant it in my garden and see what happened. It wasn't until it bloomed that I learned what it was. It's been here ever since, growing and blooming without missing a beat. It really is a great plant and fits right in with a lot of things.
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