Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Acca, Guavasteen

Brand:  Southern Living

Description:

A dwarf variety grown from cuttings, making it very uniform; features woolly, dark green leaves with white undersides; produces showy red and pink flowers in spring, and edible green fruit in fall; great for smaller spaces; drought tolerant

Edible Qualities

DownHome Harvest® Bambina™ Pineapple Guava is a small shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces bluish-green oval fruit (technically 'drupes') with creamy white flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The fruits have a sweet taste with a gritty texture and a pleasant fragrance.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Preserves

Features & Attributes

DownHome Harvest® Bambina™ Pineapple Guava features showy shell pink pincushion flowers with dark red overtones and scarlet anthers at the ends of the branches from late spring to early summer. It has dark green foliage with white undersides. The fuzzy oval pinnately compound leaves remain dark green throughout the winter. The fruits are showy bluish-green drupes carried in abundance from early summer to early fall.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds and bees to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Messy
• Spiny

Aside from its primary use as an edible, DownHome Harvest® Bambina™ Pineapple Guava is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

DownHome Harvest® Bambina™ Pineapple Guava will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It has a low canopy. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more. While it is considered to be somewhat self-pollinating, it tends to set heavier quantities of fruit with a different variety of the same species growing nearby.

This shrub can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in sandy soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

DownHome Harvest® Bambina™ Pineapple Guava is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.