Pineapple guava: Edible and exotic

With the cold weather and the snow our area has experienced over the past few days, perhaps it’s a good time to consider the cold hardiness of our landscape plants. USDA Cold Hardiness Zone map shows that Greenville and most of Pitt County is zone 8a, meaning our average low winter temperature is between 10 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. A small part of southeast Pitt County is zone 8b, reflecting an average low of 15 to 20 degrees.

As gardeners, we sometimes try to push the boundaries of these hardiness zones, planting things from warmer climates and hoping for mild winters so that they’ll survive. But the truth is that there are plenty of zone 8a hardy plants that reliably survive our winters and give landscapes a sense of warmer air.

One such plant is pineapple guava, Acca sellowiana, a flowering evergreen shrub native to South America. The name pineapple guava itself, combining the names of two separate tropical fruits, conjures up images of warmer climates, and the unusual flowers don’t look like they’re from around here. With cupped white petals wrapped around the lower half of each bloom, and purple and red stamens shooting upward like a volcanic eruption within the flower’s center, a pineapple guava in bloom will make you say, “What in the world is that?”

Above left: Pineapple guava is a hardy flowering, exotic evergreen shrub that survives our winters. It has silvery, gray-green foliage. Above right: The flower has a tropical appearance. In addition to being attractive, the flower is edible, said to taste like marshmallow. Photo: JC Raulston Arboretum, CC BY 2.0.

Grown best in full sun to part shade, pineapple guava grows to 10-15 feet tall in its native habitat, but will more likely top out around 5 to 6 feet here in eastern NC. The flowers are not only attractive, but are also edible. They are reported to taste like marshmallows. I’ve never tried one, but now I’m suddenly in the mood for a smore.

Flowers arrive in late spring. If you eat all the flowers, you won’t have any fruit, but those flowers you do leave on the shrub will develop into fleshy green fruit that mature into yellow berries. They take as much as 4-7 months to fully mature, and thus you shouldn’t expect an overwhelming bounty of fruit in most years. ‘Coolidge,’ ‘Nazemetz,’ and ‘Pineapple Gem’ are cultivars that have prolific fruit production and are self-fertile.

Even if pineapple guava never flowers or produces fruit, it has ornamental value as an evergreen shrub with silvery, gray-green foliage. The leaves are particularly impactful during the winter months. Look closely and you’ll see they are mostly green on top, but covered with whitish hairs on the underside, the contrast of which creates the silvery appearance.

Above right: Leaves and flowers of the pineapple guava. The leaves are mostly green on top, and covered with whitish hairs on the underside. The contrast results in a silvery appearance. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Pineapple guava fits well in the landscape within fruit orchards, edible gardens, children’s gardens, or containers. It can be used as a specimen or as part of a hedge, will attract songbirds, and is seldom grazed by deer. It is generally free of any major insect and disease issues, and though not native to NC, it is a well-behaved exotic suitable for wider use in our landscapes.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.