Pretty sure it's Kniphofia. Does that jog your memory? This "mystery plant" thing happens to me too, usually with items I grabbed on sale at the end of last summer and hurriedly planted before the first freeze. Unlabeled of course!

epl 92, At 3 yrs. old, you should not need to force your plant to bloom if it is mature....3 ft. or more across. My Spanish Red is beginning to bloom without assistance. brom phil, I'm not sure what you're calling the "head" of the pineapple. Pups usually grow after the plant has bloomed (fruited)....since it only blooms once, it must propagate via pups. It takes months for the fruit to ripen....patience is required.

I have to put my two cents in here for you: OK I am an "expert" on pineapples. In fact, my plants produced so many pineapples this past summer that i was giving them away to the neighbors...I would plant one top and 6 more would sprout in the same pot-- low and behold there are pineapples hanging out everywhere. I started off with one or two pineapple tops from some supermarket pineapples and they went nuts. Here is the secret. Sit the top in water until some nice roots form. Plant it in a decent sized, well drained pot using ordinary potting soil. And leave alone for the most part- water maybe once a week when its dry only otherwise leave it alone... DO not put any of the plants in the ground-leave them in pots,let them get rootbound ..eventually you can divide them. Also, after picking some pineapples that were a bit tart, I figured out that you need to let the pineapple sit on the plant, as long as possible, until it is golden yellow and very fragrant... My husband recently gave away at least half of my plants!! since we had too large of a plantation! I still have about 20..and it all started from just a few supermarket pineapples ( dole gold)

AHHHHHHHHHH....memories! And what a journey it has been! I remember all the things mentioned here. Each time I thought I had another one...someone came up with it. I'm more "hippy" than hippie...LOL! Scarlett, I know the feeling! Those hipster jeans just don't fit right anymore! One thing I did learn to do back in the 60's and didn't see mentioned here were "Christmas Spiders". From the small glass Christmas balls and pipe cleaners, with sequin eyes. They looked like this...of course you've got to remember this one has been around for a good number of years now! LOL..ugly thing, isn't it? With new products and vintage jewerly, they now look more like this example. I made dozens of these every year..and sell most of them these days. We still use the Christmas ornaments like this. I'll never forget the year we decided to make this the family Christmas project! Neither will our 2 daughters! We all had such sore fingers. But, they treasure these ornaments now, and like myself use them every year. Let's not forget Santa and Mrs. Claus made from dish detergent bottles. With the dime store (then Ben Franklin) faces and hands, etc. They are still part of my Santa collection but I don't seem to have a picture of them anywhere in my on line albums. I still make a few of the old things...most often with a bit of a modern twist...using some of the easier to use products. The pasta angel is a good example of evolving pasta art. I do have problems finding the metal thumb tacks used for the candle in these. Someone mentioned the crochet covered clothes hangers. I'm just old fashioned I guess...I still do them. Along with little sachet bags to go with them. I love collecting the old crochet patterns and making stuff from them. These are the vintage pattern projects that I have recently finished. The shaded pansy thread colors are almost impossible to find these days. You can see some of my spiders in this basket...they are not Christmas Spiders. I call them my illusive, almost extinct pansy spiders! I wanted some really pretty silk pansy to put in this basket and couldn't find any...so I used the next best thing. LOL I think I should stop now! I don't think the "old" crafts will be completely lost...they will just evolve. Be Safe, Rach Here is a link that might be useful: