Rosella Jam
Yesterday while at the quilt group Mountain Quilters I was fortunate to be given some Rosellas.---
Not the feathered variety,but a member of the Hibiscus family!
Until I moved to Queensland some 30 years ago I had never come across these plants/fruits or jam,but now I would be one of my favourite jams.
The seeds are planted out in October and by late February through to April the fruits form and need harvesting before they mature and coarsen.
The plant itself is in my opinion worth having in the garden : it can grow to 5 foot in height,has shaped deepish green leaves and reddish stems and veins in the leaves;
The flowers are lemon single hibiscus-type blossoms and the fruit (hips) are a delightful waxy ruby red.
The only draw back is that they are an annual.
The jam is made by first boiling up the seed pods (which are removed from inside the red petals) in order to obtain the natural pectin for helping set the jam.
I'm off now to start on my first batch.
mmmm....homemade scones with Rosella jam and cream! 
8 comments:
Put the kettle on, Mauz, I'll join you for the scones and rosella jam - it would be one of my favourites. Not had it since I was a kid, we had a farm near Redland Bay, and grew rosellas, and lived on the jam all year long.....yum!
I never saw that fruit before, but it sure looks good!
I sure don't think we have that fruit here in New Hampshire - but, it sure looks wonderful...I'll bet the jam is nice too...
We definitely don't have any Rosella fruit in Wales, UK.I had never heard of it before. Very interesting.
I don't know if the variety of Hibiscus you can make rosella jam grows here or not. I bet it's a variety just in Australia, yes?
Well, you've given me another thing to find out about Maureen. :)
It sounds lovely. Thank you for the description of the plant, too.
Darilyn
Darilyn.I reckon they'd(Rosellas) grow in your climate as they are a tropical plant.
Margaret unless you have a glasshouse,I cant imagine Rosellas surviving in Wales!
Yummm!
I have never seen the rosella fruit.
I must ask my friend who loves to make jams!
Julia
I never saw Rosellas when I lived in the west.
My parents took seeds back to South Perth to try but no success.
I think the wet season Qld has during the summer months has a lot to do with successful growth.
Heat,full sun (they dont like shade) and natural rainfall and they grow like topsy!
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