Tag: hibiscus

Time to Harvest the Roselle Hibiscus For Tea

This year I grew a few Roselle Hibiscus bushes to collect the pods and make tea. Ants are always a problem, but I found an easy solution.

Last week I began cutting off the larger roselle hibiscus pods. Once they flower, the pod, or calyx, gets big with the seed pod inside. The red outer petals are ready to use.

Roselle stem with flowers and calyxes

This year only two large Roselle hibiscus plants were growing in the ground. I learned my lesson after the first year when I had way too many big, bushy roselle plants.

One plant would be plenty for me, but I guess I planted two to be on the safe side. I like to have the petals to make tea.

This hibiscus variety is not the same as the hibiscus that flowers and becomes a big bush here in Florida. The Roselle has flowers, that last about a day, but the pods that come after are what we want.

Orange hibiscus
Decorative hibiscus (not edible)
double orangea hibiscus
Hibiscus flower – no pods form on this one

Dealing With the Ants – No Sprays Needed

Ants are drawn to the pods. If I wait too long there will also be white mealybugs inside the petals also. This year I harvested the largest calyxes (or pods, as I call them) in early October. Many large pods had already formed, but lots of smaller ones were still coming.

I soaked all the harvested pods in jars of water outdoors. This either killed the ants, or caused them to crawl out and leave the pods. By the way, these were not biting ants.

After a bit of a wait, I drained the pods and began to peel off the red petals. All the ants were gone. I found only one mealybug, so I think harvesting early helps with that.

Red roselle hibiscus pods in glass jars filled with water.
Ant removal
Roselle pods drained and ready to peel
Drained and ready to peel
Roselle pods peeled
Peeling

Once the petals were all removed, the remaining green pods went into the compost. I rinsed and dried the red petals and stored them in the freezer. I’ll take them out to use when making tea.

Simple Tea

All I do is boil water and let the petals soak in it for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I make an herbal tea and simmer the roselle along with Moringa leaves, Maypop, rosemary and basil. Or, I use whatever is growing in the garden.

red tea Japanese pot and cup
Roselle tea
roselle flower
Roselle hibiscus flower

After the harvest of the biggest pods, I cut down the plants, leaving only a couple of tall stems. I’ll collect a few of the pods when they are dried and save the seeds inside. This hibiscus likes the heat and does not continue to grow over the winter in my yard.

The seeds will be planted next year to grow one, or two, new roselle bushes. No more than that!

bees

More fun times in the garden…

Fast Growing, Bushy Roselle Hibiscus Shrubs Grown For Tea

After my first year of growing Roselle hibiscus, I have learned a lot. The shrubs have grown fast and become too large for my small yard.

The Roselle hibiscus plant gives us the calyces that make beautiful, red colored tea. I’ve been drinking hibiscus tea for a while now, but never knew exactly what it was made from. Now, I am growing the plant that makes this tea!

Tea is made from the Roselle hibiscus which is NOT the same as the decorative, flowering hibiscus plant.

Roselle hibiscus tea
Delicious & healthy Hibiscus tea

Read about the benefits of drinking roselle tea.

Over the winter months of 2023, I planted Roselle seeds in small pots and kept them indoors. The plants sprouted and some of them grew, but none of them thrived. As soon as the chance of frost overnight was gone, I transplanted the seedlings into the ground.

Now, it is summer of 2024, and I have big, bushy Hibiscus plants everywhere! Honestly, I have 9 plants, but the yard is small, and they are taking over.

Roselle hibiscus
Roselle hibiscus
Bushy roselle hibiscus – lost it to the wind in a storm

This type of hibiscus has open flowers (see below) that leave behind seed pods wrapped in red leaves, called calyces. The red leaves, when peeled off, can be boiled in water to make tea.

roselle
Roselle calyces
roselle flower
Roselle hibiscus flower

When my Roselle began to grow, they gave me a few pods. After that, I had to wait until Fall to get more.

Starting Roselle From Seeds

These Roselles began in pots, grown from seeds I bought at SESE (Southern Exposure Seed Exchange). The plants are about nine months old now and they al look very nice. Some are smaller than others but the one that is in the walkway is just beautiful! (That is the one that died from the storm.)

Roselle seedlings
Roselle seedlings
roselle hibiscus and okra plants
Roselle
Roselle hibiscus plants
Roselle growing

Growing Roselle is Easy

The plants will get large, both tall and wide. (I’m in Zone 9B) They are growing with and without lots of sun. The plants in the sun are bushier. They survive drought, are not bothered by the heat, and have no bug problems. After they bloom (September for me), collect the seed pods to make tea, or other things.

A warning: We had a windy storm during the summer and this (my bushiest) Roselle plant split right down to the ground. The tree died. I went ahead and trimmed all the remaining hibiscus to be sure wind could easily get through the stems.

Heading Into Fall

If you are looking for a little shrub that is easy to grow, and grows FAST, get yourself some Roselle seeds.

These shrubs have taken over my yard. I had NO idea what they would do when I planted them back in Spring. Now, many of the plants are taller than me – guessing 7 feet or so in height. It has been about 11 months since I began them from seeds indoors. By the way, don’t bother with that. Put the seeds in the ground. It was tough dealing with them in small pots.

Big roselle bushes flowering in September.
The Roselle have become too large for my small backyard garden.

It is September and the Roselle’s are now blooming. I’ve gone through and trimmed out some of the smaller branches because they are blocking the sun from other plants. Once the flowers stop, and I collect the calyces, I will be cutting some of these plants down. I have a feeling they won’t do well through the winter anyway. I hate to cut down a good plant, but they are seriously in the way.

My yard is too small for these plants. Now, I know how easy it is to grow Roselle, and how big they become. I’ll be smarter about choosing the right spaces for them to grow.

More garden goodness…

Grow Roselle Hibiscus in the Florida Garden

This spring I have added Roselle Hibiscus to my backyard garden. A plant that loves the heat is always welcome to the yard, and this one is also full of health benefits.

Roselle is a name I’ve heard some southern gardeners mention, but I had no idea what it was. Southern Exposure Seed Exchange sells seeds, so I ordered a packet along with my recent seed purchases.

In late fall I planted the seeds in little pots. The Roselle seedlings looked good to begin with, but they eventually got bugs on the leaves. Growing things from seed throughout the winter months is not optimal. A few of these plants did survive, and they now reside in my yard. They are doing great!

roselle seedlings
Roselle hibiscus seedlings

Unfortunately for me, I have discovered that roselle is a large plant. My yard is fairly small, so I planted the seedlings in various spots. Roselle hibiscus likes heat, humidity and sunlight. It should do very well, but I may have to dig and re-plant for space.

After planting the seedlings this Spring, the Roselles are flowering and making the red bulbs now, in May! I have cut them off. I must find out what to do with them. I’m adding that info here, for anyone else who is new to growing it.

roselle
May
Roselle hibiscus in Florida yard
May plant
roselle
Roselle calyces

Video About Growing Roselle Hibiscus Plants

This video is wonderful. I think this woman lives in Arizona. I like the idea of growing anything that is heat-loving!

Learning About the Roselle Calyces

I’ve purchased hibiscus tea, which is red, and comes from this plant – I assume. It is different from a normal hibiscus, which you do not consume.

As soon as I saw my first Roselle flower, I thought of the okra I grew last year. The biggest difference is that roselle is pink and okra is off-white. Otherwise, the flowers are very similar. This year I have one Roselle planted next to a row of okra (which is growing from my saved seeds).

roselle hibiscus and okra plants
Roselle and okra plants

From everything I’ve seen, the red calyces are supposed to show up in Fall. Mine have begun to show up in April and May. Even Elyse, of The Urban Harvest, says that the flowers won’t show up until Fall… and she mentions drying the petals (?) to store and use the remainder of the year. The advice is part of this wonderful, and informative new video from The Urban Harvest and includes more veggies that can be planted in May here in Florida.

How to Use the Roselle Hibiscus For Food

I had no idea what to do with this collection of red pods. After watching a few videos, I came across this video that depicts three ways of using the calyces. (I’m still not exactly sure of the correct spelling – is it with a c or an x?)

Watch the video, which shows how to peel off the petals, rinse and preserve the edible parts. They can be frozen, dried, or cooked. I plan to eventually try all of these suggestions. But first, I used the petals (about 5 pieces) to make some tea!

red tea Japanese pot and cup
Roselle tea
Roselle hibiscus tea
Delicious & healthy

The health benefits of drinking hibiscus tea are numerous. Or use it to make jam, and more. How to Use Roselle Hibiscus: 5 Tasty Recipes.

Growing Roselle Hibiscus

I’ve had very good luck growing the Roselle hibiscus. My seedlings were having issues, so maybe just plant the seeds right in the ground to begin with, or start them later in the season in pots.

Once the seedlings were in the ground, they took off. Shortly afterward, they began to flower. I’d never grown them before, but the flowering means the red pods are coming next.

It is not necessary to prune the plants to make them bush out. Mine are doing that on their own. I think the two shown below will need more space and I might have to re-plant.

Roselle hibiscus plants
Roselle growing
roselle
May

If you live in Florida, look into growing this plant. It loves the heat and you can make tea from the flower pods (at the very least). Look up the health benefits of drinking hibiscus tea, or using this plant for health. I have found lots of pages online with information.

Please keep reading…

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End of Year Yard Happenings, Orchids, Hibiscus and More

It’s the end of 2018 and I have decided to share some recent yard happenings. One of my orchids is blooming. My orchids don’t look too good, so I was surprised to see two blooms on one of my plants.

blooming pink orchid
My orchid is blooming!

The orange hibiscus plant is growing like mad! I have neglected this plant and am frankly amazed it is doing so well. I’m planning a new garden along the front of the house and another hibiscus is in the plans.

Orange hibiscus
The hibiscus is huge now!

One of the plants you must have if you are a true Floridian is a Staghorn fern! And now I have one hanging from the trees out back. I had a Staghorn fern which I gave to my best friend before I left Florida and she still has it hanging in her yard. She offered to give it back, but her yard is much nicer, and if the plant is happy there then I’m happy to leave it with her.  This new one is in a pot but I will re-pot it into that hanging basket eventually.

Staghorn fern
My new little stag horn fern

The rubber plant I propagated  is still growing nicely out front under the oak. If I can keep it from freezing over winter it may grow and live to be tall and beautiful.

rubber plant
New little rubber plant in the yard

Hope you have fond memories of 2018 and the new year brings all good things!

Must Plant More Fast Growing Tropical Hibiscus Plants

The photo below is of my orange hibiscus and rose bush after planting in my yard. This past April, 2017, I dug up a little patch of grass in the back yard to create a space for a colorful flower garden.

The pretty double-flower orange hibiscus is a typical plant to grow in Florida. I prefer the double type flower, and I thought the color was lovely.  You can see that it was a small plant.

hibiscus and rose bush
New Garden, Hibiscus and Rose Bush – April 2017

Roses are such a bother, but this one was pretty and I decided to try it. The rose bush looks awful now, but the hibiscus has grown like crazy.  This just goes to show that if you plant what likes to grow in the local climate it will flourish.

Here it is 7 months later.

orange hibiscus plant and rose bush
Hibiscus and Rose Bush in November 2017

The hibiscus plant was watered regularly after it was planted, as was the rose. There were some mites on the buds, so I picked off the buds and threw them away. I’ve noticed that sometimes there are still mites on the plant, but it is not affecting the growth. I never water it now and it is flourishing in the sunny spot by the house.

Screen Shot 2017-11-15 at 9.49.17 AM

Hibiscus are tropical plants and I fully expected it to survive quite well. I didn’t realize it would grow so fast.  It constantly buds and blooms and the leaves are nice and green.

All I do is occasionally pick off the bug infested buds and give it fish fertilizer and sprinkle some bone meal around the base for good root strength.

I have plans to plant more like this in the front yard. The wind blows from the front and it’s also more shady, so I don’t know if that will be a good location.

Something I’ve always enjoyed is watching my plants grow and change.  I once took photos of the Pinky Winky hydrangea in my New Hampshire yard for an entire blooming season to show the changes in the flowers from summer through fall.

What’s Growing in My July Florida Garden

It is so hot down here in Florida in the month of July that I rarely go outside.  This morning I scurried around my yard and took some photos until I just couldn’t stand being out there.  I think I lasted less than 5 minutes. The heat index says it feels like 100 out there. Add in tons of humidity, and you have Yuk.

So lets begin with the flowers. The crotons and hibiscus are loving the heat. They were made to withstand summer heat in this disgusting climate. Thankfully we are getting lots of afternoon thunderstorms that keep me from having to go out and water.

red hibiscus
Red Hibiscus

My rose bush hasn’t had any blooms for a while, but I noticed a small rose and bud today. It probably needs more attention, and more fertilizer.

small carnival rose and bud
Small Rose and Bud

I bought some Impatiens when I first moved into the house, and unbelievably they are still looking pretty good! I also planted my mother-in-laws-tongue, or snake plant, in the ground and it is doing well. I’ve put a few of the big seashells I’ve collected into the garden as decoration. The older, worn shells look good displayed that way. I had to put them out front, away from the raccoons, so they wouldn’t drag them off!

seashells decorating garden bed
Seashells Decorate the Garden Bed

The Persian Lime tree is doing great. It’s still in a pot, and has lost a lot of the fruit it started with, but I still have some good size limes coming. I’ll have to figure out when to pick the fruit.

persian lime fruit on tree
Persian Lime Fruit

I have 2 eggplant plants, but neither one is growing any eggplants. They flower, and lose the flowers and keep growing tall.  They are a good spot for ladybugs to lay their eggs and eat aphid infestations, but that is about it.

Maybe there aren’t enough bugs to pollinate the flowers. I need more flowering plants in and around my garden.
But I tried. I bought a bunch of marigolds because I always grew marigolds in New Hampshire. They usually became beautiful rounded bushes with tons of flowers. But that is not happening to these marigolds.

eggplant
Eggplant

The marigolds have been growing for months, and I only have about 3 flowers total. The stalks have grown very long and tall, without flowering. It’s very bizarre. Marigolds are good to grow near tomatoes and other vegetables because they will help keep certain unwanted bugs away.

orange marigold
Orange Marigold

On to the tomatoes. I have 2 tomato plants still growing, but neither one looks exceptionally good. Both have some small green tomatoes, and I don’t know if I will get red ones to eat before the raccoons decide to help themselves.

Green tomatoes
Tomatoes

I tried covering the vegetable garden with netting, and I think that helped. But a papa cardinal somehow got inside the netting and was trapped in the garden! I went out and freed him, but I had to cut the netting off in the process. He was really freaking out, so I left the garden uncovered.
I’m not trying too hard to garden these days. It’s too hot, and I don’t think the vegetables like it either.
……. Happy 4th!