That looks to me like some kind of bromeliad. Vrieseas can look that way when they're not watered correctly. If your plant is a bromeliad, then you need to water it in the top, pouring water into the middle of the leaves, for it to look its best. BUT, if it's not a bromeliad, you could cause it to rot by watering that way. Can you describe the flower it had? Some more pictures of the whole plant from a couple of angles (particularly from above) would be helpful too. This post was edited by PatchyJack on Fri, Jun 13, 14 at 4:56

Cheers, you could have included the info about why you were looking for an ID when you originally posted your picture. You said you suspected what it was and were just looking for confirmation. I'm not sure what kind of responses you expected but I said I was giving you the benefit of the doubt in genuinely wanting to know what it was. Several people sympathized with what you considered an unpleasant experience after they understood why this was posted. Had you been more forthcoming originally, or at least not a stranger, this conversation would have gone differently. I hope you'll stick around and get to know some of the great people here, and continued good luck in meeting a non-loser!

Thank you, all, for your quick replies. I googled G 'Little Warty' and that does look like my plant! Thank you, Pirate_Girl, for also identifying the others plants. I do have two follow-up questions. I did a quick read on a few sites about Gasteria. At first the flower stalk reminded me of an asparagus spear and I was imagining that it would be shades of green when opened. But many photographs showed striking tri-colored flowers --- they're edible!?! ---- and the fact that many buds also appeared below the main flower. On close inspection it looks like mine is also sending up additional buds along the stem. Should I wait until after flowering to separate this plant from the others? Another question --- right now the pot is in an east window where it gets stronger morning sun now that it's winter and there are no leaves on the trees across the street. We usually put our houseplants on the covered (west-facing) deck in the warmer months. Will this plant tolerate being outside? And finally, about the other 4 foot plant. I'm sorry that I don't remember its name, but I believe it actually wasn't a cactus though it did have long "arms" that shot up and out all along the sides. It looked like a cactus to me when I spotted it in the store. I thought to myself, Why not buy it? It's only about 12 inches tall --- how cute! I do remember that its branches were three-sided and had sharp spines. Nowâ¦. this next part is an awful thing to confess here on this forum --- but I couldn't find a single person willing to take the plant. And honestly, I tried! Everyone was put off by its size and its thorns. So--- sadly --- we had to hack it up into tiny chunks, bag it, and throw it away. Molie

Lyfia, all great points you brought up, it really helps me plan and think. Honestly we have no set time frame for having this project done, since we have an up and running kitchen in the other part of the house and we are working on the new kitchen as time allows. I spent part of this week filling every little brad hole with putty and sanding everything. This weekend we should get a primer on and if dry time allows the walls and ceilings painted. I think we are at the point we are going to put in the cabinet order too. We still have the floor to put down, sand and seal. Tile the whole range wall, put up shelves. The wiring is done, we still need to run plumbing .. which means going under the house in the Summer .. YIKES! We live in copperhead country, not a fun prospect. Last year my DH got bit, we were very fortunate it was a 'dry bite' though! Valinsv, thanks for the help and suggestions, they are very helpful! Les, I love those 50's dinette chairs and if I was going to do a booth, I'd be all over them. I honestly don't think with a very rustic table I'd be happy with them ... even though they look super cushy to sit on. :) If I do go with these chairs I'd have seat pads made for them. I still haven't put my chair order in, I was all ready to go, now I'm hemming and hawing over details again. Part of me wants to go this way, part can really see everyone sacked out in a comfy booth and chairs playing board games and drinking coco. I know that everyone brought up very valid reasons to stay away from a booth, like people being inconvenienced by having to move to let the inside people out, etc. The thing is though we don't have those types of sit down and eat parties where I see it being a problem. When we entertain adults it's normally in a relaxed, casual setting outside on the deck or around the pool area, where we have large tables in each area. When it's just the five of us here, there would be plenty of seating that we could all spread out. I'm lucky that my girls really do get along, there is not alot of she's looking at me, touching me, breathing my air problems. *LOL* I grew up with 3 siblings, I know how that goes, we spent a lot of time bickering. ;) When it's the kids and their friends having snacks, I don't see it being a problem where the kids would feel inconvenienced. So in short I'm still stuck, I think! *LOL* Sometimes I can see right away the path I want to follow, sometimes I start second guessing myself. *sigh* Normally my Husband will chime in with his feeling on the matter and we'll work it out in a way that we are both relatively happy .. this time he really doesn't seem to care, well other than wanting me to make a plan so we know how to finish the room. ;)