Grow Your Own Tea

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Misty L. Trepke

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From

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_herbs/article/0,1785,HGTV_3595_2045629,00.

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Grow Your Own Tea

 

 

 

 

Before you conclude that it's hard to grow herbal teas, think how

hard it is not to grow mint.

 

by Marie Hofer, Gardening editor, HGTV.com

 

Look at the ingredients on commercial herbal tea labels and you'll

find plants like lemongrass, spearmint, peppermint, rose hips and

hibiscus. Can these be assembled in the garden? Absolutely. Most of

these plants are ridiculously easy to grow. And along with being a

wellspring of continuing product that invites itself to being plucked

regularly, a tea garden also attracts butterflies and bees.

 

 

 

 

Both the leaves and flowers of bee balm can be used to make an herbal

tea. Bee balm. Besides splashing the summer garden with shades of

red, pink, violet or white, the flowers of bee balm (Monarda didyma)

lend a citrus-mint flavor to tea. Flowering lasts from midsummer

until early fall.

 

Also called bergamot or Oswego tea, bee balm puts up with a wide

range of soil and light conditions but prefers full sun and moist,

rich soil. The plant grows two to three feet tall and two feet wide

(it tends to grow taller in shade and need staking) and can spread

via rhizomes. Bees and hummingbirds will also like that you've

included this perennial in the garden. Avoid overhead watering to

help ward off powdery mildew; 'Elsie's Lavender' (lavender)

and 'Cherokee' (rose-pink) are among the most resistant. Most

cultivars are hardy to Zone 4.

 

 

 

 

When broken, lemongrass leaves have a sharply lemon fragrance.

 

Lemongrass. A favorite ingredient in Thai cooking, lemongrass

(Cymbopogon citrantus) also shows up in many herbal tea blends. The

plant is a stately clump of fairly fine-bladed grass, two to five

feet tall, that grows in full sun or light shade. Gardeners north of

Zone 8b will need to overwinter this tender annual as a container

plant.

 

 

 

 

Pineapple mint

 

Mint. This family of perennials alone offers a lot of tea options,

namely peppermint (Mentha x piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata),

and a host of special flavors-apple, orange, lemon, pineapple, even

chocolate. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) also offers a lemon-mint

flavor. The newest leaves have the most flavor; use them fresh for

hot tea as well as flavoring lemonade and iced tea.

 

Most mints are notoriously invasive. If you're adding mint to the

garden, either grow it in containers or, if you want it in the

ground, put a tall (12 inches plus), bottomless plastic container in

the planting hole and plant the mint inside. Leave about two inches

of rim exposed above ground, then keep an eye out for runners. Most

mints are hardy to Zone 4.

 

 

 

 

Chamomile tea is brewed from the dried flowers. Caution: If you

suffer from ragweed allergies, you may be allergic to chamomile.

 

Chamomile. A sweet miniature-daisy-like plant with feathery foliage,

German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is a trouble-free annual

that's easily grown from seed and self-sows readily, and it's the

type of chamomile that's usually used in making tea. Roman chamomile

(Chamaemelum nobilis) is a perennial, hardy to Zone 6, but it lends a

somewhat bitter flavor to tea. Give chamomile a sunny site and moist,

well-drained soil. This time of year you may still find potted plants

in some garden centers and specialty nurseries. Don't mistake this

chamomile for the common roadside plants, scentless chamomile

(Anthemis arvensis) or mayweed chamomile (Anthemis cotula), both

noxious weeds in many areas.

 

 

Rose hips. Hips are the round fruits that develop from spent flowers.

If you want your roses to concentrate on flower production, deadhead

each bloom after its prime so the plant doesn't spend all its energy

producing seed. If you want tea, however, leave the roses to wither

on the bush and in time, hips will develop. A good compromise is to

let the roses have their big heyday in spring and early summer, and

then let them work on producing hips.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes called sweet herb, stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is said to be

a natural accompaniment to a tea garden; its leaves are considered

natural sweeteners.

 

 

Making Herbal Tea

 

To make tea, use one tablespoon fresh leaves or flowers (as

appropriate, depending on the species). If the plant material is

dried, use one teaspoon.

 

Add the herb--or a blend of herbs--to a tea ball or a steeping cup

that's resting in a mug. If desired, you can include some clippings

of stevia, a natural sweetener, with the tea herbs.

 

Pour hot--but not boiling--water in the mug and let steep for five

minutes or less.

 

Add honey, lemon or sugar as desired.

 

Caution: If you're not used to drinking fresh herbal teas, start

slowly. Make sure you know the identity of the plant you're using to

make tea, and be watchful for adverse reactions. Finally, don't use

any leaves or flowers that have been treated with pesticides.