I’ve a stunning outdated feijoa tree in my yard, and each spring it attracts flocks of starlings that dance by the use of its leaves. The starlings are hungry for the a complete lot of sweet pink flowers that seem prior to the fruits set in late summer time season season.
I liken these flowers to nature’s litter — swaying contained in the breeze, dropping from the tree, and defending the underside with tender, aromatic petals that brighten up the brown bark mulch.
Feijoa flowers are thought-about one amongst my favourite edible flowers. Various flowers are literally edible, nonetheless whether or not or not or not or not they’re palatable (on their very private, not merely as an accent) is a particular story.
Feijoa flowers are uncommon in that they’re succulent and candy like marshmallows, with hints of the pineapple/kiwi/mint type inherent in feijoa fruits. I’ll often scatter quite a lot of flowers over a salad after I’m feeling fancy, or throw some to my chickens with the remainder of their greens.
The flowers furthermore feed the hummingbirds, butterflies, scrub jays, and squirrels that frequent the yard on day by day foundation. With the onslaught of fruits that I get inside the autumn — attributable to prolific pollination by the birds and the bees — often I would love they’d eat significantly further!
The flowers have fleshy white petals with showy scarlet stamens; they remind me a bit little little bit of fuchsia flowers. Pulled aside, the petals appear to be sea shells with their flippantly textured exterior and rosy pink inside.
Botanically, feijoa (Acca sellowiana) is an evergreen shrub from the Myrtaceae household which can be espaliered or knowledgeable correct proper right into a hedge, nonetheless mine has slowly grown into a large tree with a single trunk. It’s quite a lot of a really very long time outdated and has grown to bear resemblance to an olive tree (very Mediterranean wanting) with its gnarled trunk, silvery inexperienced leaves, and egg-shaped fruits.
It’s terribly drought-tolerant as accurately, on account of the solely water my feijoa receives is from pure rainfall… and we haven’t had an excessive amount of of that at this time. For a lot of who preserve in a heat native local weather (zones 8 and up) and want a low-maintenance fruit tree that’s furthermore bird- and bee-friendly, a feijoa is an efficient resolve!