Rosella jam making

[Mark]

Here's a video I knocked up on how I make rosella jam and following the video is a radio segment with myself and Robert Blackmore from Sunshine Coast Radio on the subject of growing rosellas and preserving.

 

[Steve]

Great video Mark. I've never seen Rosellas before. It's on the list!
There I was thinking you're going to make jam out of a colourful bird!

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Mudmaker]

Hi Mark,

I enjoyed your video as I love rosella jam. I was thinking of putting in a couple of plants and was wondering how long they are usually productive for, and how often they fruit, once or twice a year?

 

[Mark]

Hi Mark,

I enjoyed your video as I love rosella jam. I was thinking of putting in a couple of plants and was wondering how long they are usually productive for, and how often they fruit, once or twice a year?

I'm glad you liked the video.

Rosella plants are an annual - you might get 6 - 9 months out of them before they die. Flowering can start off sparse but then once the plants mature at about 3 months they usually have a big flush of flowers and calyxes. If you started them in spring they might flower well in mid-summer for harvest and then again just before winter.

 

[Mudmaker]

Thanks Mark for the info, I’m not sure why I assumed they were perennial. Are they easy to propagate from seed or is best to buy new plants the following season?

 

[Mark]

Thanks Mark for the info, I’m not sure why I assumed they were perennial. Are they easy to propagate from seed or is best to buy new plants the following season?

They can self seed in the garden but collecting the seed at the end of the season then propagating in trays or in ground where they are to grow is pretty simple.

 

[Mudmaker]

Thanks Mark for the info. I didn't realize they were so simple to grow, I am definitely putting them on my list