Discover Pineapple Guava

Feijoa (Acca) sellowiana is native to South America and is known as pineapple guava. It is an attractive, small, multi-branched shrub or small tree in the Myrtaceae or Myrtle family and is related to Eucalyptus, guava, and Chilean guava. It is highly ornamental with beautiful gray green, evergreen foliage with white undersides. Plants can be allowed to grow as they want or are quite amenable to pruning. You can shape it into a standard tree form, keep it narrow and columnar, or espaliered against a wall or railing for privacy.

Its showy, tropical-looking flowers have white petals often flushed with pink and dramatic red stamens with yellow tips. The petals are edible and taste like cotton candy or pink bubblegum making them an unusual and exotic addition to salads or as a garnish for desserts. The delicious fruits that follow are green and oblong and about the size of a chicken egg. The fruit is sweet and aromatic with a perfumy smell. They taste like an exotic combination of mint, apple, guava, and pineapple. Plants will bloom in the summer and fruit will ripen in November. The fruit is ripe and the most flavourful at the point that it is ready to fall from the plant.

Self-Fertility and Pollination

In the wild, most Feijoa are not self-fertile and seedling-grown plants will require two genetically different plants to pollinate each other to get fruit on both plants. However, numerous cultivars have been selected to be partially or fully self-fertile. However, even with these plants, the presence of a different cultivar for cross pollination will improve the quantity of fruit produced.

Hardiness and Growing Conditions

Pineapple guava is hardy to zone 7 but should be grown in protected situations within gardens and covered in extreme cold snaps to protect developing flower buds and fruit and minimize leaf damage. They can also be grown in greenhouses or sunrooms in colder climates and are quite amenable to container growing. Some of our customers have had some success growing them as houseplants but Feijoa needs a cool winter chill period in order to flower and fruit. This could be achieved by growing them indoors in winter and outdoors in summer allowing them to experience cool nights and frost before bringing them indoors.

Breeding Work and New Cultivars

Pineapple guava has been widely grown in New Zealand since the 1920s and most of the breeding work of new cultivars has taken place there. We are pleased to offer many new cultivars from Roy Hart and Nigel Ritson who have been breeding for large fruit, thin, edible skin, sweet and flavourful flesh, and early ripening, which is very important in cool summer climates such as the West Coast.

Our Selection

We carry many different cultivars of pineapple guava each year at Phoenix Perennials, though we may not have all cultivars every year. Here are the cultivars that we grow:

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Anatoki’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Anatoki’ is an early-ripening, New Zealand-bred cultivar perfect for our region with large, very sweet and flavourful fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Apollo’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Apollo’, pineapple guava, has beautiful, tropical-looking, edible flowers and delicious fruit that tastes like pineapple and mint.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Coolidge’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Coolidge’ is self-fertile and early-ripening with very large, dark green, tasty fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Kaiteri’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Kaiteri’ is an early-ripening, New Zealand-bred cultivar with very large, sweet and delicious fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Kakariki’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Kakariki’ is an extremely early-ripening cultivar with very large, sweet and delicious fruit with thin edible skin.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Nikita’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Nikita’ is an early-ripening cultivar with tasty fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Ramsey’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Ramsey’ ripens in the mid-season with very large, sweet, flavourful fruit. Shrubs have a more upright growth habit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Takaka’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Takaka’ is a very early-ripening, New Zealand-bred cultivar with large, sweet delicious, light green fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Unique’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Unique’ is an older cultivar prized for its extra sweet, delicious fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana ‘Waingaro’
Feijoa sellowiana ‘Waingaro’ is a later-ripening, New Zealand-bred cultivar with large, sweet/tart, refreshing fruit.

Feijoa sellowiana
Feijoa sellowiana, pineapple guava, has beautiful, tropical-looking, edible flowers and delicious fruit that tastes like pineapple and mint. These are cutting-grown plants.


Give Your Garden the Phoenix Perennials Touch:

At Phoenix Perennials we offer over 5000 different plants every year for in-person shopping at our garden centre and plant nursery in Richmond, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver. Additionally, we offer more than 3000 different plants each year for mail-order shipping across Canada. Stay connected with our diverse offerings and all things Phoenix Perennials by signing up for our E-Newsletter and Alerts and engaging with us on social media. Happy gardening!