Anyone who has sampled a ripe guava fresh off the tree will forever be on a quest for another — a quest as “fruitless” as the search for The Holy Grail, unless you’re in the guava zone.

But did you know that in Southern California’s forgiving climate, you can grow guavas to perfection in your backyard, thereby achieving guava nirvana?

Amaryllis is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America.

Southern California isn’t tropical, but it’s close enough for amaryllis to flourish year-round.

Figs are one of the earliest domesticated crops in human history, dating back 9,000 years in regions like modern-day Jordan and the Levant.

The Egyptians dried figs for year-round consumption, while the Greeks and Romans associated the fruit with fertility and prosperity.

The plants (Ficus carica) are native to the Middle East and Western Asia. In the mid-1700s, Spanish missionaries introduced them to California, along with the olive tree.