I have never been much a fruit person. True, I am super whorey for blueberries and figs (hence the 2 fig trees and 4 blueberry bushes I promptly planted in the yard) and I like cherries and plums (again, note my fruit tree choices). The best thing about the Pacific Northwest is the berries and I used to go buy mixed berry flats at the farmers market and gobble them up until bad things happened to my bum (totally worth it!) But apples, oranges get a shrug from me. Apricots and peaches are hairy and kiwi fuzz makes my tongue itch. Pineapple is fine but I don’t go out of my way or ever think about buying it, even when it is pre-cut. Basically, at pot-lucks, buffets, the fruit tray gets a pass from me.

But last spring when I was scouring Portland Nursery for fun plants to buy, I did throw in a pineapple sage, mostly because the plant looked exceptionally healthy and it was kind of different. I brought it home and planted it and basically forgot about it. I only remembered it when I was ripping out the endless clover and accidentally pulled up a branch with a bunch on roots on the end and wondered what it was — it smelled crazy good. I rooted around for the tag and discovered that this lush, huge plant was that pineapple sage. So this was back in August, and we all remember August (or we are trying not to). Since then I occasionally thought I should do something fun with the aromatic delight —  put it in mango salsa for fish tacos or have a party and make majitos. But I don’t usually do majitos and mangos are really the most annoying fruit (except for maybe pomegranates — and there you have to deal with the seeds and even then, they aren’t proportionally delicious.) Even so, the plant was now on my radar and I am very pleased with it.

Then suddenly last week, when everything else in the yard is making its ways toward being finished for the year, this sage decided it was getting ready to bloom. And then it did — in red! It has sprays of little red trumpet flowers all over it and has been attracting hummingbirds and my smiles!

Not the best picture, but the pineapple sage really does look striking with asters.