GREEN-fingered John Lewis Thomas has seen a pineapple he grew at home for four years accepted by the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
The 74-year-old of Garthmadryn, Bronllys near Talgarth grew the plant from a cutting of the tropical treat - and it finally bore fruit this summer. The distinctive fruit encased in tough segmented skin sprung up from the large green leaves.
"I grew it in the house from the cutting off the top of a pineapple but I’d not expected it to be as good as this.
"It is very, very rare they get to fruit as they are tropical plants," said John.
"It was just like a house plant but got bigger and bigger so I had to put it in the greenhouse. It has grown to about three foot high and four foot wide. It’s too big for the house now."
His wife, Susan, 66, added: "Nobody we know of has ever grown a pineapple."
John, who said granddaughters Mille Evans, nine, and Roxy, four, helped him nurture the plant delivered it to the National Botanic Garden, at Llanarthney, near Carmarthen just before Christmas.
Keen amateur gardener John also donated a date palm he’d grown from a pip from a pack of Christmas dates to the garden.
"I thought I’d see if they wanted the pineapple and they said they hadn’t got one and would take it off us straight away.
"It would be a shame to eat it as it is still growing, there’s another three fruits coming through.
"I’ve been an amateur gardener all my life."
Dr Rosie Plummer, director of the botanic garden, said it hadn’t got one of the pineapples in its collection so was keen to accept the plant, even though it doesn’t normally accept donations.
Dr Plummer said the pineapple is a fitting donation as the garden’s Prince’s Foundation Performance Stage, which was erected five years ago, has a wrought iron pineapple on its roof.
"William Paxton, who built New Middleton Hall, and developed the gardens may have grown pineapples in his glasshouse."
Angela Singleton, the garden’s deputy curator, added: "It is very unusual we accept a plant but on this occasion it was just what we wanted."