Where is your favoritetea source ? How about make it a corner of your garden ?
Herbal tea leaf are all the rage and it involve only a trivial provision and the summation of a few accessory to make your garden the best tea source around .
Give your tea source a little protection by planting it in front of a fencing , rock paries or building . Delicate herbs , likelavender(in our growing realm ) , will revalue the kindly thoughtfulness and a bit of extra mulch in the fall .
Choose from a variety of herbs and flowers to find your favorite cup of tea.
Best Plants for Herbal Teas
Now , what to plant ? Rather than planting every herbaceous plant that might be used in tea , think about your own likes and dislikes . While peppermint is a natural choice , and there are many varieties , if you do n’t like spate — don’t plant life it .
Some tea origin suggestions : chamomile , lemon balm , lemon verbena , roses ( petals and hips ) , calendula , mullein , marshmallow , salvia , oregano , savory , thyme , raspberry , milfoil , marjoram , anisehyssop , and of track peppermint and lavender . Add rosemary and geranium in pots . debate ginger and echinacea ( cone cell flush ) for their tooth root . Do more research for amedicinal tea leaf sourcegarden . ( seek “ medicinal teas ” or “ health benefits of herbal tea ” for a garden ’s Charles Frederick Worth of useful information . )
Also , do n’t cogitate that your tea leaf source must be one and done . Gardens are usually works in progression and your teatime source will be , too . Some plants will establish , settle in , andbe happy for years . Others that could have been whizz may need to be replace by a understudy , also - ran , or stunt double .
An herbal tea garden can be functional and beautiful, as shown in this garden plan by Amy Kainz from the Fall 2024 issue ofNorthern Gardener.
Planning a Herbal Tea Garden for Easy Harvesting
Like plan a unspoiled photo , put the improbable ones in the back and the shorties up front . Also consider where perennials will be most comfortable ( sun or shade ) and where a few annuals might be easily insert in . work works verbal description in garden catalogs or on industrial plant tags to lie with growing requirement and superlative of matured works .
harvest home herbs when they ’re at their peak of wellness and flavor . pick out morning for a harvest time over after in the day before volatile oils have had a fortune to burn off . Use a few leaf for fresh afternoon tea ordry the plantsin a drab place with good air circulation for manipulation in blends .
Herbal Tea Blends and Recipes
To create tea blending , use 40 - 70 % of a base herbaceous plant ( look or want burden ) , 20 – 40 % of supportive herbs ( to strengthen or enhance the properties of the base herb ) and 10 - 20 % of accent or accelerator herb ( more potent flavor or strong activeness ) . Accents may also be material that does n’t come from your garden such as dried orange or lemon peel ; fennel seeds , cinnamon stick , cloves ; foraged plant like vervain , sumac , wild milfoil .
If you ’re not indisposed to garden kitsch , add a tea leaf board and chairs , a sign or two , and a decorative tower made from a vase , glass plate , and tea cup . It ’s your preferent Camellia sinensis source ! Enjoy !
Nancy Packard Leasmanis a columnist , artist and nurseryman who keep 40 acres in key Minnesota .
Learn more inNorthern Gardener®magazine…
Four seasonal outcome full of growing tip and featured garden — written and edited by local northern gardening professional just for you .
