Garden calendar for the kitchen garden - vegetables and herbs. See what to plant right now and for next month.

Select your climate zone What is my climate zone?

Growing Rosella, also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle

(Hibiscus Subdantta)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Not recommended for growing in USA - Zone 5a regions

Sow in garden, or start in seed trays. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 20°C and 35°C. (Show °F/in)
Space plants: 140 cm apart
Harvest in 21-25 weeks.
Compatible with: Feverfew, Coriander, Nasturtium and Hyssop

Rosella bud

This frost tender annual grows to a height of 2 metres. It is grown for its red fruit which make delicious jam or jelly.

Rosella needs a growing season of at least 6 months warm weather so is best suited to tropical or sub-tropical areas. Can be started under glass in cooler areas. Water well and give a dressing of fertiliser when flowering starts.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Rosella

The large flowers produce a crimson enlarged calyx.
Use the fleshy red calyx, without the green seed pod to make jam or jelly.

Your comments and tips

05 Jun 13, GRAHAME (Australia - tropical climate): ROSELLA BUSH HAS GRUB IN STEM AND PLANT FALLS OVER . WHITISH GRUB LIKE SMALL WITCHITE GRUB
Reply or Post a new comment
14 May 13, Jessica (Australia - tropical climate): how do you get the green seed out of the calyx without cutting the calyx? I want to do some in syrup but can't seem to get the "flower" whole
Reply or Post a new comment
17 May 13, Denise (Australia - temperate climate): When I was a child my father made a "Rosella de-leafer" by attaching an empty bullet casing to a handle - it worked well & I still have it. Maybe you could try an apple corer?
Reply or Post a new comment
06 May 13, joyce inglis (Australia - sub-tropical climate): just wondering when to set Rosella plants at Rockhampton in queensland regards joyce
Reply or Post a new comment
23 Mar 13, marija (United Kingdom - cool/temperate climate): molim vas za savijet, može li rosella uspijeti se uzgojiti i europi, croatia? hvala (I ask you for advice, you may be able to grow Rosella and europe, croatia? thanks)
Reply or Post a new comment
14 Mar 13, Valerie Minniss (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Just had my wilting rosella plants diagnosed by the nursery where I bought them. They said it was typical of too much rain/water - so grow them high and don't mulch during heavy rainy periods like - A nematode or two on roots but not enough to kill a plant starting to flower like mine - suggested to water with a weak solution of condies crystals and interplant with marigolds to discourage nematodes. Bought 4 new plants to try again now that the big wet seems gone.
Reply or Post a new comment
10 Mar 13, Valerie Minniss (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Trying to find a cure for my rosella plants wilting - we have had very very wet and humid weather, so put it down to that and have been trimming back the wilted leaves and cultivating around the roots to aerate them, seems one plant has new shoots. Or could it be nematodes - don't understand much about them - then again the scrub-turkey and quail scratching around them could have exposed the roots ??? Any advice welcome. Cannot seem to find anything helpful in the myriad of books and web-sites I have been scouring over the last week.
Reply or Post a new comment
21 Mar 13, Pete (Australia - sub-tropical climate): One thing I have found about growing Rosella fruit is that the bushes need to be in very well draining soil - otherwise you will get wilting/rotting. We have a very sandy soil type and our plants just love it.
Reply or Post a new comment
23 Feb 13, r.e. corker (USA - Zone 7a climate): rosella can be ordered at the following website gardens@southernexposure.com
Reply or Post a new comment
22 Jan 13, Anina van Tonder (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Looking where can I found dried Rosella in South Africa. Suppliers of dried Rosella in South Africa
Reply or Post a new comment

Post a question, comment or tip about Rosella

Replying to:

Can someone please tell when to pick my rosellas, Ive relocatd from WA and have no idea, but want to either make wine or jelly.....or anything really....

- Janine

Your name:

Where are you?

Email address (if you would like us to email you when your comment is listed):

Your reply

All comments are reviewed before displaying on the site, so your posting may not appear immediately

Home | Vegetables and herbs to plant | Climate zones | About Gardenate | Contact us

This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.

Site design and development by Hutchinson Software