Tea Garden?

I just moved to a new home and it has lots of room. I am planning out my gardens for next year and would like to grow herbs specifically for tea. I am wondering if a regular spot in the garden would be good, or perhaps containers on my porch right outside my kitchen door. :)

Do any of you grow a tea garden?

What do you grow?

Mint is a must, but I am looking for some interesting additions as well.

Any pictures?

Lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon catmint... can you tell I like lemon LOL.

So do the scented varieties translate to actually tasting like they smell?

How do you find some of the scented ones? just at nurseries or do you order seed somewhere?

The lemon ones do sound yummy.

Lemon balm and lemon catnip both start easily from seed. Lemon verbena is a tropical and needs winter protection in my zone. It is found as a plant to be ordered. Yes, to the taste ~ specifically on the L. verbena. I've only started seeds for the lemon catnip recently and haven't used that plant but love the smell.

These herbs will add a nice flavor to teas, jellies, breads and cakes to mention a few.

You could try salvia's: S. officinalis is the best but others will do to!

A tea garden. What a luvly idea! I think chamomile and a rose for the hips would also be a must if I had a tea garden. Take care with your chamomile choice because some are invasive. ok now I want a tea garden LOL.

Chamomile is a good one, I think I heard that german chamomile is good for tea? Also that is one of the reasons I might set them up in pots. Not just to be close to my door but also to keep them from taking over. I have heard that mint might spread too readily here as well. Might want to keep it contained!

I heard of a scented verbena, maybe it was pear? I am just so curious as to weather I could get a nice pear flavor for tea.

Nevermind, it is a mint called "sweet pear" , amazing what you can find around here. :)

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/74628/

I don't know about pear flavoured herbs but a piece of pear in the bob or a drop of pear liqueur should do the trick.

You can use the flowers of Hibiscus as well. This will add a sweet taste and a reddish colour to your tea.

You definately want to keep your mints contained. If not, they will take over your entire garden!

I have a corner of my garden dedicated to teas. I call it the "tea-room".......

Tuink ~ what all do you grow in your "tea~room"?

Podster,
I grow several kinds of mint, lemon balm, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, pine-apple salvia, Salvia officinalis. Also grew agastache and sweet annie, which smell nice, but they turn out to taste horrible!

I had wondered about Agastache ~ the foliage smells wonderful but my plants (first season) aren't big enough to harvest foliage. Thanks for sharing your experience. I forgot about the pineapple salvia or pineapple sage. That would be an excellent one but it will grow pretty large LissaD.

Has anyone tried anise? My herb books say its wonderful for tea. Of course you have to have room for a 60 foot tree LOL or do the native ones in the south US produce the same fruit/taste as the spanish ones? Also I guess its really a spice and not a herb.

LOL, 60 ft tree. Don't think I could put that one in a container on my porch. ;) Does anise have that black licorice taste. That is not one of my favorites. It might be interesting blended though with other things.

What about fennel?

Yes licorice tasting. Its can be quite dominant but a little in the mortar blended with other luvlies is nice in a salad dressing for mixed greens that include peppery or bitter greens. Also yummy mixed with mint too. Anise hyssop (anise flavoured mint) is tea garden worthy I think. I don't have moist enough conditions for that one though sigh.

O yes fennel of course.

German chamomile is the best one for tea.When it starts blooming,pick only the fully open flowers,and you can keep picking them all summer.Water it well.You should also have some wild roses growing in your area-they provide the best hips for drying.Dried,they will keep for a long time.

Dahlianut-Anise(Pimpinella anisum) is an annual plant that grows to 3 feet tall.Not a 60 foot tree.

Podster-on your Agastache,try pinching out the leader tops back about 2 or 3 leaves.This will encourage branching.The same is true for mint.Pinch once,2 branches grow.

Nedhudson1 the anise I'm referring to is illicuim. Native shrubs/small trees in the southeastern states and trees in asia as far as I know. Not very familiar with it though.

Dahlianut-I got you.The Illicium is somewhat to highly toxic,but the plant I referred to isn't.

For those watching this thread check out today's article .

Lemongrass...it's really good. Mints, I never have too many!

We have seeds for growing herbs that would make a nice Tea.
For more info, email us direct at AnnieAppleseed at comcast dot net.
We have several herb tea garden seeds if interested.

I have all of those herbs---and bee balm makes great tea!! Also, rosemary and thyme, but you may want to add some other herbs and flowers with the thyme. I have been getting more interested in edible flowers, and lavender can be dried and used in tea, although some folks say they are allergic to it.

I also have used rose scented geraniums, and other scented geramiums for tea. They are wonderful, but the rabbits like them, too!! And I lost my scented geraniums to them this year.

Ooh, I'll have to try the lavendar and scented geraniums in tea!

You can also make lavender sugar or scented geranium sugar to add to tea (if you like yours sweet). I don't like tea sweet, but I do like to rim a glass with one of those sugars and then sip a tart cranberry juice or lemonade. Yummy! Simply take a quart mason jar and layer some organic lavender buds (or rose geranium leaves) and sugar. You will probably use 1/8 -1/4 cup of the herb per quart. You can use fresh or dried. (I like fresh scented geranium leaves though). After a few weeks, the sugar will be infused with the flavor and scent of the herb you chose. Strain out the herb and use the sugar. But, the sugar will probably be lumpy if you used fresh herb. Just give it a quick go-around in the food processor to make it smooth again.

Great Idea! Thanks, I love it.

Wonderful, Herbalbetty!!! I must try the flavored sugar idea!!

echinacea is also a good medicinal and grows well here.

Tea is so delightful. We grow a few herbs that make nice teas. Here are a few.

Ginger mint, peppermint, apple mint, Chocolate mint and try Chervil not as strong as Fennel!
Jasmine is also nice, its flowers providing a lovely taste!

In the tea garden, Apple mint, Lemon Balm, peppermint, spearmint, Oswego (Bee -balm), fenugreek, lemon grass, lavender, nettles (watch out for these if you aren't used to them), chamomile, Borage, Sage, Lemon Verbena, and Bronze Fennel Then a separate medicinal garden, and culinary garden...
Thai basil from the culinary garden makes a great tea when you mix in combination with mints.

Besides Lemon Grass, I currenty have Mountain Mint, Spearmint, Peppermint, Chocolate Mint, Apple Mint, Mojito Mint, Red Stem Apple Mint (just call me mint-lover!) and nettle.
Has anyone tried Greek Mountain Tea? The descriptions sound good and it's on my list to get.

Not me but it sure does sound good. http://www.teaviews.com/2009/06/21/review-davids-tea-greek-mountain-tea-3/

I must say that I hold Apple Mint in high regards. It is great just by itself. I am drinking some over ice right now as I type this.

LindaTX8--where did you get your red-stemmed Apple Mint? Is it different in flaor from the regular?

I got it from Herb Farm, which is an herb grower in my area. BTW, even though it says apple, it's actually a cross between Mentha arvensis (Wild Mint) and Mentha spicata (Spearmint). They really should call it something else, because the name is confusing.

Yes it is confusing being a cross, but it does have a saving grace!
It is extremely good for settling upset stomachs, and for some people (not everyone), it helps them sleep!
Regards from England.