Rosella plant

The Rosella plant brings striking colour to your garden and a deliciously tart harvest to your kitchen. Moreover, its official botanical name is Sabdariffa gossypiifolia. This fast-growing, bushy annual offers ornamental appeal and provides versatile edible calyces.

Common names include rosella, roselle, Jamaican sorrel, Jamaica sorrel, red sorrel, Indian sorrel, Florida cranberry, Jamaican tea and Sudanese tea. Other names include October hibiscus, maple-leaf hibiscus, rosella hemp, sorrel, flor de Jamaica, saril, and karkadé.

Red stems, deeply lobed foliage and pale flowers create an attractive display throughout the warmer months. After flowering, fleshy red calyces swell around the developing seed capsules. As a result, these colourful calyces make rosella drinks and preserves with their familiar tangy flavour and rich colour.

Turn freshly harvested calyces into homemade jams, jellies, syrups, sauces and fruit punches. Furthermore, their refreshing tartness also complements desserts and makes a vibrant herbal infusion. Young leaves offer another edible harvest, adding a pleasantly sour flavour to cooked dishes.

Harvest the calyces while they remain plump and tender, then remove the central seed capsule before preparing them. Alternatively, enjoy your harvest fresh or dry the calyces for later use.

For more homegrown drink ingredients, explore our Ginger Plant and Lemongrass, Green Plant. Their warming, citrus flavours pair beautifully with rosella in homemade infusions.

Choose an open, sunny position with light-textured, freely draining soil. In addition, mix in compost before planting and water regularly during establishment. Keep moisture consistent during flowering and calyx development, especially through hot, dry weather.

Allow approximately one metre of width for its spreading branches. However, plants may reach around 1.4 metres tall, although climate and growing conditions influence their final size.

Rosella thrives in tropical and subtropical gardens with a long, warm growing season. Conversely, in cooler regions, plant after the frost risk passes and choose the warmest, most sheltered spot. Be sure to protect young plants from cold and frost. Overall, a generous growing season gives this productive annual time to develop its colourful harvest.