About 5 years ago, I learned that Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill sells tea bushes.    And I developed a longing to grow-my-own.  Last year, I finally bought some bushes and planted them in the front yard.

Tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis.  “Herbal teas” are correctly called tisanes.  I got 4 2-quart plants (3 small leaf and one pink), made a beautiful bed with lots of compost, vermiculite and mulch and made sure they got watered when it was particularly dry.  I pinched them once to encourage bushiness, but haven’t really tried to harvest anything.

I tend to buy small plants and let them grow.  I figure they may as well spend the time growing in my yard as at the nursery that got them started.

Three made it through the winter.

I am saving the instruction sheet I got from Camellia Forest here, so that when I clean it up and throw it away, as I tend to do, I’ll still have the information.