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Cranberry Hibiscus
hibiscus acetosella

Cranberry hibiscus is a beautiful & tasty hibiscus variety that stuns with its beautiful dark red maple leaf shaped leaves, and its maroon hibiscus flowers. The leaves are edible and taste tart, like its cousin plant Roselle (the hibiscus variety that produces tea calyxs), and the flowers are edible too. Chefs like harvesting the leaves when they are itty bitty and using them as garnish, and home gardeners looking for summer friendly leaf crops like to eat the leaves raw in salads or quick cooked in sautés and such. Cranberry hibiscus plants get large so make sure to give them lots of space. For that reason they’re best planted in your landscaping, not your raised bed. Come fall your shoulder or head tall plant will be covered with flowers for all humans and pollinators to enjoy.

Planting and growing tips: Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep in premoistened potting mix in a small pot or seedling tray. Keep cells moist in partial shade until germination, when they can be moved to full sun exposure. Seeds will germinate in under 7 days and grow quickly. Its essential to get the seedlings full sun right away or they will get "leggy" which will cause the mature plant to not be able to hold itself up. A properly pruned and cared for cranberry hibiscus planted in spring and allowed to grow healthily all summer will end up 5 feet in diameter by the time its flowering in fall so make sure to space plants about 10 feet apart in the garden. Once plant is a couple feet tall prune its growing tip off to encourage branching. 

Seed packages are hand silkscreened by Gold Teeth Brooklyn, a handmade stationery company based in Washington. 

Seeds have been tested for reliable germination in our nursery at 80 degree daytime temperatures. We recommend using them within 1 year of date of purchase.