Sunday, August 21, 2011

Hibiscus sabdariffa ( Roselle )

I have finally acquired the seeds of the Hibiscus sabdariffa Jamaican Cocktail Red( Roselle). I have long wanted this form of Hibiscus plant. This form is extremely beneficial.

The Hibiscus sabdariffa plant is native to the Old World Tropics ( East Indies ). There are many different varieties of the Hibiscus plant. This one in particular has all the qualities I am looking for.

This extremely wide ranged plant is useful on many different levels. In Mexico they use the dried sepals and calyces to make a tea known as Jamaica Tea, pronounced ha-mi-ca, by boiling them and adding sugar. This is my main reason for wanting this plant. I tried some Jamaica Tea and fell in love with it! This Jamaica Tea is know for lowering blood pressure too which is an added bonus to its mouth watering flavor.

In the West Indies the Hibiscus sabdariffa plant is used for making all kinds of goodies. They make jelly, syrup, gelatin, pudding, cakes, ice cream, butter, wine, sauces and they flavor rum with it also. They also use the tender stalks in their salads and they use it to season their curry. They even use the seeds of the Roselle plant as an aphrodisiac coffee substitute. Talk about a pick me up! This plant is definitely a must have given all of its great uses.

Here are some pictures of my Roselle seeds and planting process.


The seeds are not very big at all.






Here are the seeds sitting in their new homes.



And finally here they are in my propagation area.



I hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned!! See you again next time!!




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

see about obtaining a Florida Cracker Rose, they are low maintaince, tolerate some shade, extra-large shrubs, that bloom profusely. One place source, start at $5, Weatherbee.

Anonymous said...

Hi

want to buy seeds of the white/green variety. Got any?

jansteyh@yahoo.com

H said...

where can you get the roselle seed? Do you mind sharing the address to get the seeds


Kim