What it is
Cranberry Hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella) is in the Malvaceae (Mallow) family. Deep-maroon edible foliage with a tangy cranberry bite — ornamental enough for the front bed, productive enough for the salad bowl.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it moderate, and give it rich, well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.0. Space plants about 36 in apart. Expect roughly Leaves all season. Tender perennial.
How it's used
Cranberry Hibiscus is used: young leaves, flowers.
🔎 How to identify it
- Burgundy maple-like leaves
- Yellow-to-pink hibiscus flowers
- Striking dark foliage
Edibility
How to grow & propagate cranberry hibiscus
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate cranberry hibiscus
The mallow family loves heat. Sow the seed once the soil is thoroughly warm — soaking it overnight helps the hard coat — and give it full sun. The perennial members (Turk's cap, rock rose) also root from softwood cuttings taken in early summer.
Growing cranberry hibiscus in Texas
Give it full sun and rich, well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
This one thrives in heat that flattens other plants, so it earns its space through a Texas summer. Get it established before the worst of July, keep water steady, and it'll produce when little else will.
Once it's rooted in, this is a low-water plant — overwatering does more harm than drought here. Water deeply to establish, then back off and let it prove how tough it is.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly leaves all season before you're harvesting. Pick herbs in the morning after the dew dries for the strongest oils, and harvest little and often — regular cutting keeps a herb bushy and stops it bolting. The part you're after: leaves, flowers.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.