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Step 1
First you need to decide which flavors of tea you want to grow. Are you partial to mint teas? Chamomile? Lemon? Licorice? or floral or fruit flavors? or something a little more exotic?
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Step 2
There are hundreds of mint varieties. Most people are familiar with spearmint and peppermint but there are several varieties of each. Kentucky Colonel mint is the traditional spearmint that is used in mint juleps on Kentucky Derby day. Double mint is the source of the flavor for double mint chewing gum. There are also mints that taste like chocolate as well as banana. Licorice mint, although related to mint, is not a true mint. Be warned that mint will spread and take over your garden so they are best grown in containers. Most (but nt all) are very hardy and can grow in most areas without protection from cold. . They do die back in the winter. They can be grown inside. You can propagate mints by either stem cuttings or root cuttings. Mint is best used fresh for tea (commercial mint is freeze dried to preserve flavor)
You use the leaves of the mint for tea. -
Step 3
Licorice flavored herbs are very popular (if you like licorice) There are many licorice flavored herbs that are commonly used for tea. Anise hyssop (also called licorice mint) The flowers are beautiful as well as fragrant (and can be used in tea) This plant attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. If you like licorice, anise hyssop is a must. Use the leaves and flowers for tea. Maintains much of it's flavor when dried.
Other licorice flavored herbs for tea are anise seed, and fennel seed. For both of these, it is the seed that is used for tea -
Step 4
Lemon flavored herbs are almost a must in a tea garden. One of the most popular is lemon balm., a perennial freely self sowing herb. Lemon balm looses it's flavor when dried so should be used fresh. It can also e used in cooking.
Lemon Verbena is the most true lemon scented herbs and makes one of the best lemon teas (it is also used for cooking and for perfumes) It is a herbaceous perennial- which means t loses it's leaves in the winter. Unfortunately many people who grow lemon verbena do not know this and many plants have been tossed out because they were thought to be dead. Lemon verbena is only hardy zone 8 and above but it grows well indoors (it may lose its leaves!!!) -
Step 5
There are may fruit flavored and floral flavored herbs used for teas. Tangerine and pineapple sages are two very nice plants fr teas. Pineapple sage is better known but tangerine sage is always a winner if you can find it. Both are moderately hardy and may need winter protection
Chamomile is vry popular and makes a nice before bed time tea since it helps sleep. German Chamomile makes the best tea - it is an annual plant that will self sow if you let some of the flowers go to seed. The part that is used is the flower.
Lavender is another floral plant that is used for tea (and cooking) You can either use it alone or blended with other herbs (like chamomile)
rose hips add a citrus flavor as well as vitamin C to tea. it blends well with other herbs -
Step 6
There are other herbs that most would not think of a ta herb but they add a lot when blended with other herbs.
Agrimony (AKA church steeples) leaves add an apricot flavor. It was also traditionally used as a spring tonic and for purifying the blood. This is one of my favorite herbs.
Marshmallow leaves ad a soothing element to tea blends due to it's high mucilage content (marshmallow can also be used as a vegetable and the seeds can be eaten)
Comments
ourlastchance said
on 10/21/2009 An herb garden would be a lot of fun and would make your yard smell great. Thanks for your how to choose herb plants for an herb tea garden article! 5*
jhkcpa said
on 10/6/2009 Great article on how to choose herb plants for a herb tea garden. 5*
sonni57 said
on 9/5/2009 Great info on how to choose herbs for a garden.
lotsnmore said
on 9/4/2009 Great article!