And now you will have to buy the "rubra" form as well! I agree it is a cool plant, and surprising in that it seems to do as well in California as it does back east. One of those accent flowering winter bloomers that has interesting form, and almost a tropical look to it when in leaf. I find I have to do a lot of thinning on it to keep it in bounds, and can't say that it has a fragrance that carries, but it is nice. I can relate to the shopping bug, plants were the only thing I shopped for this Christmas season, and got some beauties, like a really full Sticks on Fire Euphorbia in firey color for the back deck, to chase away those winter blahs. I also went for a couple of apricot flowering Grevillea 'Superb' in full bloom, also for the winter color and to attract the Anna hummingbirds. Last were some really beautiful and rare Restios with gorgeous stems, Cannamois virgata, which I rationalized might not be available for purchase next spring, better nab them now! Magnolia stellata and M. soulangeana and M. denudata are also great temptations this time of year, but...I...Must...Resist...

Hi Tigerdawn ,welcome , what you have there is a Vr,splendens variety " Mortafontanensis" this is commonly grown in the nursery trade ,yes your plant is making 2 pups ,let them get to quite a big size before trying to remove them ,considering your plant has been gassed to make it flower before it was old enough ( thats why its not as big as it could be and does not have enough leaves) I would let the pups get to at least half adult size and then just split the plant in 2 and pot each one up ,its allmost a waste of time to try to get more pups from it,and its not the easiest of plants to take pups of if they are smallish as they are right along side of the old flower spike , the spike is orange red when in full bloom ,your plant is the most commonly grown form (in the nursery trade ) of this lovely species and when tissue cultured a percentage of variegated types occur ,it likes moist potting mix ,humidity ,good ( not strong ) light, and fertiliser , it is prone to scale pests and these will lodge themselves at the leaf tip on the underside of the leaf , Splendens in all its forms does not make as many leaves as other Vrieseas ,but its very worth while and easily grown from seed ( but does not like the cold ) i trust this helps you , cheers , Jack

I love your office with all the personal items. So nice to see you using things that have special meaning to you. Good for you.

I realized that I didn't thank you all for your nice comments. It is so great to be able to share finding treasures with people who can appreciate it! Deborah: Could you possibly "repurpose" the coffins you find into a lovely banquette or invert it for use as an armoire/media center? LOL, haven't seen any of those listed here! Johnatemp: For some reason, I'm getting "curvier" with age as well, LOL (well, actually more lumpy than curvy these days). I am planning to use all these pieces in my "french country" bedroom makeover. I don't want it too over the top froufrou, however, and am trying to figure out the balance. I'm thinking lots of off-white linens combined with small amounts of really elegant toiles/checks. I have some really cool antique toile somewhere in the basement that I'm thinking of using as the color inspiration. Texashottie: I will definitely keep you all posted because I'm going to be begging for help when I actually try to pull all this together! Patricia43: Thanks for the compliments--actually I did have a little business for a while--still have the shop actually (I use it now for storage). I would "rescue" things, repaint, etc. and then resell. I loved it, but it was a lot of work and I learned that I'm not a salesman or businessperson!