Pineapple is a plant of patient ambitions. Native to the tropical zones of South America, it has been cultivated for millennia and now ranks behind only bananas and citrus among the world's tropical fruits by volume of production. In the garden or on a bright patio, it presents as something genuinely architectural: a basal rosette of stiff, sword-shaped, grayish-green leaves with saw-toothed edges, three to four feet in every direction, dramatic without being excessive. The flowers, when they finally arrive on a central spike, are small, tubular, and an unexpected lavender to reddish-purple, up to 200 of them blooming over several weeks before fusing into the familiar composite fruit.

Growing pineapple outside its tropical range (zones 10 through 12 in the ground; elsewhere as a container plant) is an exercise in attention rather than difficulty. It wants bright, indirect light, consistently moist but well-drained slightly acidic soil, warmth between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity. It must come indoors before temperatures fall below 50 degrees. Propagation is most easily achieved from the fruit crown, allowed to dry for a week before planting; fruit on a crown-grown plant takes at least 24 months to appear. A plant needs at least 25 mature leaves before it is ready to flower. The satisfaction of producing a pineapple under one's own care is, as the plant's admirers note, considerable.