Roselle grows well as an annual. I grew it for a few years in Kansas. I’ll probably try it here in NH as well, but I think it needs short days to bloom, so it may be iffy.
Yes I grew it last year, didn’t start blooming until maybe late September/October and ground to a halt at the first light freeze.
Pretty while it is going though. Prolific seeder. I’m planning to grow a lot more this year.
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I grew this variety, which is less daylight sensitive:
They say midsummer in Virginia, but I think it was more like July or August for me in Kansas.
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Thanks,
I may get some of those too.
Reports of successes growing Camellia sinensis in Pennsylvania, and my own successes growing C. japonica motivated me to try growing tea plants this year. I ordered 2 Korean varieties and will get a Sochi tea plant locally. They came in the mail today. C. sinensis is easily propagated via cuttings so I’ll make backups in case they fail during a bad winter.
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blushing maiden has nice pink blossoms but is not strong grower for me.
This is in containers right? Or are they in the ground? I would love to try growing Camellia sinensis outdoors if it can survive 5b winters.
5B is pushing. In Zone 7 NJ, Winter unprotected 2018 there was major damage from wind and cold but all survived. 2019 winter was very mild and I had lots of growth. Wind protection I think is most important.
C. japonica grows fine in the ground in my part of Pennsylvania. There is a member on here who grows C. sinensis for several years in the ground and has very large bushes in a neighboring county. I’d say he’s probably in 6b.
What is the lowest temp for your winters?
Sometimes we go down to -3 or -4 degrees for a night or 2. A lot of winters stay above zero though. We are considered right at the border of 6b and 7a.
Interesting… It’s similar temperatures due to the lake effect though we have had -15 to -20 on a rare night. I wonder if Sochi has any particular flavor profile.
The cultivar, the soil, the water, the side of the slope of the mountain, if the tea was picked by trained monkeys, the time of day the monkeys pick. Everything factors in flavor profile.
The final product is based on processing. Black, oolong and green have each been fermented for a diffrent length of time. The fermentation done with environmental bacteria so what around your home will be diffrent from anything I grow.
holly cow, (no offence)
Both Salal and camelia sinesis are Fall/Winter growers. There was more growth over winter then the previous 3 years combined.
The red flowered Blushing maiden suffered breaks likely from falling snow.
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Whoa did you build a makeshift shelter or was your winter that calm or is this the new winter growth habit?
They where uncovered and burred under 2+ft of snow for the last month. 2019 the tea’s set fruit pods and matured seeds in 2020. 2020 they did not set fruit(fall blooming). Tea’s take nearly 10 months to mature there fruit so I don’t think the lack of setting caused the growth.
Everyone can move there Tea discussion over here if they like
This my Sochi in the for ground and two other cultivars in the background all doing rather nicely in Zone 7 NJ.
@cousinfloyd I checked out some of the kindle preview and it looks well put togather but. how much of the book Grow Your Own Tea: The Complete Guide to Cultivating, Harvesting, and Preparing is history and how much is How to?
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Is this in DC? US Arboretum has good camellia collection, fun to visit. Re-planted after the Great Freeze of 76/77 that killed all but C. olifeira, so Dr. Ackerman used it to breed cold hardy cultivars. Just a digression. Steve
I am from DC, but this is at my home in NJ.
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I am really starting to appreciate Camellias for there fall flowers.
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