Making Homemade Wildflower Jelly Canning Tips and Guide to Success

I've been experimenting with making and canning Jelly using wildflowers. Each year I watch our abundance of edible Spring flowers grow and fade in the yard not using any of the plant. Prior to any lawn mowing, typically in April in Virginia, the Violets and Dandelions first appear. Later in May after a few mows our Rosa Rugosa, climbing Roses, and Elderberry begin to bloom. Every Fall I harvest Rosehips from my Rosa Rugosa so I had a jar of dried hips in the refrigerator that I also infused and incorporated.

In past years I've attempted to can food from the garden and it was a very frustrating experience. All the equipment and boiling and preparation made me crazy. It's was a lot easier to just freeze fruit and veggies. At that time I decided to get rid of most of my canning jars for the exception of cute little jelly jars. It's taken me 15 years to unearthed the equipment and experiment with jelly making.

I find jelly or jam making with fruit much more intensive and frustrating. You have to boil down the fruit, decide to either strain or not strain and then hope and pray it sets. Splattering goo all over the kitchen. I've had a terrible time in the past making this work. After experimenting with petal Jelly making, I have found it easier and more likely to set. Jams are made with all fruit, Jellies with liquid extracts from petals or fruit.

Fortunately now you can purchase low to no sugar pectin so I used the pink box of Sure Gel. I halved the normal amount of sugar (which always seemed really gross to me) and supplemented with 3 teeny scoops of Trader Joes Stevia. The sweetness of the final product was spot on and possibly even a little bit too sugar infused for me. I will experiment next Spring with 1/2 a cup less sugar. Tweaking the sugar in the regular Sure Gel product is a big no no as it does not set up.

I engrossed myself in watching jelly canning videos and read numerous jelly making books to ensure success. All of this preparation still did not result in complete success. Jelly making is a true art to master and one simple mistake can ruin your batch, which is very infuriating and caused me to swear off canning 15 years ago!

My Violet Dandelion Jelly was fortunately not a complete let down. The flavor was fascinatingly delicious, light and beautiful. Sadly the set was my typical problem. Edible but somewhat runny. My disastrous attempt at making my beloved Black Raspberry Jelly 15 years ago runny like water (probably because I didn't add all the sugar required in a normal box of Sure Gel). 

Online instructions advised to cover petals with too hot and too much water, diluting it more than necessary. Petals are delicate so boiling water should sit for 10 minutes before being poured over the petals. Next year when the Violets appear I will also pick a cup more than I originally used to also boost the flavor.

My second attempt, after a month of getting over the first stressful attempt, I forced myself to get back on the horse and make Rose Rosehip Elderberry Jelly. Running out of Rose Jelly from Lidl, I was motivated to find a replacement. I noticed the delicate white Elderberry flowers were in bloom and needed to supplement my Rose petals (I didn't have near enough) so I also added them to the mix. I mainly had white petals which didn't add enough pink color to the finished product so I infused rosehips for 15 minutes in boiling water then strained, to bump up the flavor and color.

I took meticulous notes when making my first batch of Jelly so went back online to research it all again to perfect the second batch. I used a Jelly thermometer as instructions stated the liquid needed to hit 220 degrees for 1 minute on the final boil. My two different gauges never exceeded 200 degrees. So I don't know if my stove just can't get that hot or if their is an error in the temperature recommendation but 200 is all I could push out of my heat source. If you don't have a gauge or it never exceeds 200 degrees you will need to boil it strong for 2 minutes. If you have a gauge and can hit 220 degrees, a strong boil for 1 minute is what is advised online.

I also bumped up my lemon from 3 to 7 tsp, to encourage setting. Lemon is a natural source of pectin (a thickener). I also read to not stir during the final boil and during my first batch I stirred the entire time and never stopped. 

The resulting product of Rose Elderberry Jelly was much improved. I had a perfect set and I believe it was more due to letting it cook during the final boil for 2 minutes and not stirring. I'm not so sure the lemon was the factor in it setting up but I'll find out next Spring when I give it another go, reducing the lemon back down as it had a little too much of a citrus flavor for my taste. The Rose flavor could have been much more pronounced so I'll boost up the petals from 1 cup to at least 2. I didn't get much of a hint of elderberry but the fragrance was lovely so worth using again. I did put boiling water on the Elderberry petals and this was way too hot for the teeny delicate flowers and seemed to burn them! NOT GOOD. So next Spring I'll let the boiling water sit for 10 minutes before infusing.

Tips in conclusion: 1) Steep petals in minimum amount of off the boil water required to cover petals. 2) Follow pectin box instructions carefully. 3) Be sure to add 4 tsp lemon. 4) After your liquid poofs up for the final boil let it boil for 2 minutes. 5) Do not stir during the final boil, stir lightly after finished only to incorporate any gel from the bottom and sides of pan. 6) Take the time to skim off all foam and eat, it's a delicacy. 7) Keep flat seal tops in boiling water until ready to use. 8) Fill all jars with liquid and then add all seals as it does start gelling. 9) Do not overtighten the rings but secure as air needs to escape from the jar outward. 10) Can in a deep deep pan for 5 minutes. 11) Put crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom of the pan to elevate jars if you don't have a rack.

Of the 2 flavor concoctions, I really liked the Violet Dandelion but there is hope for the Rose Elderberry if I bump up the number of fragrant rose petals next year. 

I hope you have success your first attempt after reading my tips! It's a challenge the first time but does get easier with each try :)

On a side note, make sure your lawn has not been sprayed, fertilized or the like. You only want to consume organic flowers not chemical poisons.

~ Rebecca

Historic Garden Week in Virginia, Fredericksburg Home and Garden Tour 2022

Tuesday we toured six beautiful homes and gardens in historic Fredericksburg as part of the annual Historic Garden Week in Virginia. An afternoon rain was in the forecast but it literally held off until we finished our very last stop at the Kenmore Plantation. We missed one home as we confused it with the plantation on the map.

Fredericksburg has a vibrant charming historic commercial district with homes from the early 18th century surrounding this area. The oldest residential structure was on the tour, The Charles Dick House - Georgian architecture constructed in 1740. All homes preserved the beautiful original architecture but many had completely updated interiors. Modern kitchens and rooms with a garden view were common elements.

The Rappahannock Garden Club hosted the local event and members were especially nice. 

Highly skilled in floral design, arrangements were place throughout properties, inside and out. We were prohibited from taking photos of interiors so unfortunately I can not show you any. We've traveled to various locations for 12 years and the arrangements were some of the best created.

Gardens were full of blooming Azalea, Hosta, Columbine, Solomon Seal, Dogwood, and Tulips. 

Peony was budding and ready to pop. Virginia is a lovely state to visit during Spring.

Some gardens were colorful and showy and other subtle and peaceful.

We rested over some wonderful coffee and the best no-chicken salad I've ever eaten at Katora Coffee. 

I highly recommend a quick stop if you're in the area; the White Chocolate Rose Latte and Sandwich were delicious. 

My main focus on the tour is always the gardens. I always appreciate an extensive tour with a lot of variety. I partly was interested in this tour because one of the homes used to be a flower shop. The retired flower shop owner now lives in the property adjoining the tour home. Open for strolling, it was a good example of a small garden packed with a wide variety of interesting plants. 

Several gardens focused on native plants, Kenmore Plantation has a sweet native garden and massive trees on the property. It also has a large separate formal garden. We didn't have time to take a guided tour but we were fortunate to be able to walk the grounds.

Kenmore Plantation formal gardens

I recommend a visit to Fredericksburg and stroll around the historic district. 

Flowers are oozing in this area this time of year and its just getting started!

~Rebecca

Historic Garden Week in Virginia is this week. Beautiful Home and Garden Tour 2022

Charlottesville 2018

Historic Garden Week in Virginia is almost here! Tickets are limited for each location throughout the state so you might want to consider pre-purchasing tickets online this year. The tour was suspended because of Covid, but it's back this year. 

Ashland 2020

After a deep delve into the annual guide book, we've decided to go to Fredericksburg this year. They will be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the George Washington Foundation. Funds raised by the Garden Club of Virginia (GCV) during their 1929 tours helped restore the gardens at the Kenmore estate, which was the first GCV restoration project. A massive outside floral arrangement will be assembled throughout the day.

Richmond

Proceeds raised by the GCV from the annual tours help maintain and restore historically significant gardens throughout the state of Virginia.

Help kick off the most beautiful time of the year in Virginia by getting out and seeing the beauty that we're so fortunate to be surrounded by.

Richmond

The tour runs tomorrow, April 23 - 30th. 

Typically a community has one or two specific dates assigned to them.

HAPPY SPRING!

~Rebecca