Pineapple What?
(Garden • )
I planted our latest “crop” in mid-December, and noticed yesterday two out of the three tiny pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) plants already have sprouted new leaves, two or three light frosts notwithstanding.
Pineapple guava, a.k.a. Feijoa, is a subtropical fruit bush/tree that can handle the cold, reportedly down to 10 degrees before flower buds die. They hail mostly from the foothills in southern Brazil, and are not true guavas, but produce green fruit about the size of an egg. I’ve never tasted any, but expect to in less than a year.
My understanding is that they have done well around the Texas Gulf Coast, so we’ll see. I bought a favored cultivar from a northern California grower, and a seedling to improve yield since they aren’t always completely self-fruitful. He threw in a second seedling for free because, he said, he wasn’t happy at the smallish size (about 15 inches tall) of the cultivar. The seedlings are about 2 feet tall each. But they all had nice, healthy roots and arrived in great condition, and they all seem happy in their new home in the front yard.
Feijoas can range from 7 to 25 feet tall, so I read, depending on climate. I expect they may hit 12-15 feet here. No photos yet, but the lovely red or pink flower pedals are edible, and precede sweet oval fruit containing a gelatin-like central mass including seeds, surrounded by a whitish, more solid flesh. The fruit let you know they’re ripe by separating from the stems and falling on the ground.
My hope is the evergreen bushes will screen off the road from our front porch, and give us something different (and very high in Vitamin C, among other nutrients) to eat in the early fall. I’ll give you a review in a year.
→ B.Dunn, Jan 04, 2009, 04 33 pm
