Thank you Dax... and as for Dave...ye who helps is happy...ye who complains and picks on posts...needs to do more gardening. Thanks to Dave and Ogcon, I now know what my mystery plant is. I love it when people are helpful. Thank you kindly.

My best guess would be Coffea arabica? The plant that they make coffee from. It looks like mine does. I bought mine last year and it has more than doubled in size, but is still fairly young. Nowhere near blooming size yet.

Hi everyone. Nancy - Without seeing a picture of the flower on your plant, I can't be certain, but from what I see in your picture I would say it's Billbergia 'Foster's Striate'. To see a picture for later comparison with your plant, go to: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=BILLBERGIA&id=847#847 I had it for many years just growing in the garden beneath a Peppercorn Tree where I had originally planted it in a hole containing 50% pine bark and 50% General Potting mix. I put about 2 tablespoons full of "Dynamic Lifter" (Pelletised Poultry Manure) on top of the ground around the base of the plant and just watered it overhead as required. The reason I don't grow it any more is that where I live it's noted for attracting Soft White Scale and Mealy Bug, which although not a major problem normally, they were for me as I don't spray insecticides and do have a collection of a couple of thousand other plants which I didn't want Mealy Bug invading. It is a beautiful plant which produces a magnificent flower head and is generally well worth growing for most people, but be on the lookout for these insect pests which in some areas will invade the plant, especially the area beneath the dead leaves at the base of the plant and from here they will spread to other bromeliads nearby. Often it seems shy to flower and I found that extra Potassium applied in a foliar spray seemed to encourage flowering. Just be aware if you use a fertiliser which is too high in Nitrogen you will usually get good foliage growth at the expense of flowers and foliage colour, so read the NPK ratio information on the packet and make sure the number of the "K" (Potassium) is higher than that of the "N" (Nitrogen) or ask a horticulturalist to recommend a good fertiliser with a higher percentage of Potassium than Nitrogen. Also remember that good light equals flowers and colour and I find that this plant likes 70% - 80% light (but no direct overhead sun) here where I live in Australia. Billbergia 'Foster Striate' showing the beautiful inflorescence with the typical foliage in the background. Bill. 'Foster's Striate' - This picture shows how unstable this plant can sometimes be with the foliage variegation being very different throughout the whole of this large clump and with some non-variegated leaves as well. Even with this fault, in my opinion, it's still a very attractive plant. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" Billbergia 'Foster Striate' showing a close-up of a single flower. All the best, Nev.

I believe it's for flax not wool.