Looking for an easy-to-grow plant that will make a dramatic statement in your garden and give you a great cup of tea?

Hibiscus sabdariffa is its botanical name, also known as tea hibiscus or roselle, and it's one of the prettiest landscape plants I've come across recently. As a bonus, it's drought tolerant.

I've been getting tons of questions about this plant, with its striking burgundy stems and deep green leaves, from people who have seen it in public gardens. The flowers appear in the fall and look like a cross between a tropical hibiscus and a rose of sharon, with creamy petals and a deep red center.

While the flowers are beautiful, the real beauty is the plump covering of the seedpods (calyxes) that remain after the flowers fade. They're great in teas, and Debbie recognized the flavor and color from popular herbal tea blends.

Hibiscus sabdariffa is also called the "other cranberry" or Florida cranberry. Like most plants in the hibiscus family, the flowers last only one day. As the seedpod matures, it forms a crimson, petallike covering. This covering (calyx) contains juices and pectins suitable for all manner of edible concoctions.

It's unusual to find a herbaceous annual plant that will grow from seed or a small seedling into a five-foot shrub in a single growing season. But the tea hibiscus -- not to be confused with any other type of hibiscus -- is an annual plant and can't survive frosty weather. Now is the time to plant seeds or seedlings in a sunny, spacious garden spot.

Drying seeds in the fall, for sharing and planting in the spring, is as simple as picking them, removing the juicy calyxes, and allowing the remaining pods (about the size of a large hazelnut) to dry out completely. Store the seeds in a cool, dry place. Hibiscus sabdariffa may become my new favorite pass-along plant.

Plant seeds or seedlings in well-drained, fertile soil. A friable sandy loam with added compost or mulch is preferred, but the plants can adapt to most soils. Full sun and good air circulation are essential for maximum flowering.

Tea hibiscus plants need plenty of room, but would make good summer privacy screens or accent container plants. Use containers at least 10 gallons in size.

Provide an inch of water to the area each week until the roots get established, but after that, they need little moisture. Despite last summer's drought, my herbalist friend Lisa Treadaway, of Raleigh's Little Herb House, produced a large harvest from her plants.

Harvest calyxes regularly after blooms fade for greater flowering. Optimum flowering begins in the fall, when the days begin to shorten. Until then, enjoy the lovely foliage and dream about what you'll cook.

Cook it

Carol had to give me a lecture in plant anatomy before I understood what the edible part of this plant is. And I had to face Internet research confusion as well.

The calyx is the part of the flower that is between the stem and the flower petals, to which the petals are attached. You use the red calyx of hibiscus sabdariffa for cooking, not the actual flower petals, which should be discarded.

Online, there are different names for hibiscus sabdariffa. The most common ones are roselle or tea hibiscus. References using those names will always mean this edible variety of hibiscus.

I also discovered that roselle has been used in cooking around the world, from Egyptian cuisine to Mexican bebidas. The Mexican soft drink company Jarritos sells a popular roselle-flavored beverage. In Hispanic markets, dried roselle is sold as flor de jamaica.

The hibiscus flavor is also popular in herbal tea blends. If you check the labels on many of your favorites, you'll see hibiscus listed.

When the plant's flowers have faded, remove any remaining petals, then pull off the moist calyxes. Save the seeds as Carol described, rinse the fresh calyxes and use them immediately.

Also, you can dry the calyxes for later use. Spread them on clean window screens, cake cooling racks or paper plates, and place in a dry, warm spot away from light, to preserve the vivid red color. You can also purchase dried roselle at herb shops or, as flor de jamaica, at Hispanic markets. As with most herbs, you use about three times as much fresh as dried when cooking.

I want to echo the caution that you should use only hibiscus sabdariffa for cooking, not other varieties of hibiscus that you may have in your yard. Those are not suitable for consumption.

As you probably know, if you can infuse it, you can make anything requiring liquid with it -- beverages, jellies, sorbets or other desserts. I was inspired for this recipe by one I found in "The Herbal Kitchen" by Jerry Traunfeld (William Morrow, 2005), a wonderful book by the chef of The Herbfarm restaurant in Seattle. Then sit back, sip and welcome warm weather with this beautifully colored tropical treat.

Recipes

Roselle Mai Tai

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