These plants are related to both Pineapples and the tropical Bromeliads that grow in trees in Central America. They’re terrestrial (they live in the ground not halfway up a tree) but demonstrate their common ancestry with the tree dwellers by living in a pot quite happily for very much longer than most plants. Because they’re not terribly hardy, this is convenient. They can be dragged in their pots into a shed for the winter.

The flowers are extraordinary. Metallic blue and copious on great spikes that emerge from time to time – up to 5ft tall.

The plant itself raises spikiness to a whole different level. It’s not just the usual spikes at the end of the leaves but barbed spikes on the edges of the leaves too.