Imagine enjoying a soothing, fragrant cup of tea made from plants you’ve grown in your own garden. When you grow herbs, preparing them for herb tea is one of the best uses for those aromatic and healthful plants. An herb tea garden can be grown in a small bed or even containers if garden space is at a premium.
Here are some suggestions that come from the National Garden Bureau (NGB). Included are hardy and tender herbs that are easy to grow and gather. Some can be started from seeds. Many of them produce flowers, making them attractive additions to ornamental beds, as well as productive introductions to vegetable plots where they attract pollinators for better crops.
Some of these choices are familiar ones, but others are some fragrant flowers we never suspected were good candidates for herb teas. As with all plants grown for consumption, select only those free of harmful chemicals, grown with organic practices for safety.
1. Lemon grass
Stems of this tall grass create an oil rich in lemony flavor. Brew in hot water for a fresh, zany taste. Stalks can be air-dried for later or used fresh. Blend with calendula to aid digestion.
2. Anise hyssop
This member of the mint family is good on its own for its delicate anise flavor or use with peppermint or spearmint leaves. Use leaves and flowers fresh or dried.
3. Calendula
Grown from seed, calendula makes an attractive addition to any sunny bed. Harvest blooms and air dry to use on its own or combined with other herbs. Allow some of the flowers to go to seed late in the season, and you’ll have plenty of volunteer plants the following summer.
4. Cinnamon basil
This is a basil plant that tastes like cinnamon, with dark green leaves and stunning purple flowers. In tea, it’s a favorite basil to use as a spiced cinnamon tea. Use fresh or air-dried leaves and flowers. Another fragrant basil perfect for tea and herb tea mixtures is sacred basil.
5. Echinacea
The earthy taste of echinacea will instantly bring back the warmth of summer months. Harvest flower heads as they begin to open and air dry on screens or in baskets. Both flowers and roots are popular for tea, as a cold, flu and infections remedy as it is believed to boost immunity.
6. Lavender
Lavender tea has been used for centuries in traditional medicine to boost mood and enhance calm and to help promote restful sleep. Create your own sip of paradise. Harvest fresh lavender leaves and blooms and air dry on screens or in baskets.
8. Violet
Believed to comfort and strengthen the heart, “hearts ease,” as violets are sometimes called, contain beneficial amounts of vitamin C. The sweet floral taste is perfect for any warm cup of tea. Harvest blooms to use fresh or dried for soothing hot or iced teas. Now is the perfect time to harvest those spring-flowering blooms to use now and later too.
9. Dianthus
We love the sweet cinnamon-clove fragrance of dianthus or pinks. Not just a beautiful flower, the sweet taste of dianthus is similar to cloves in tea. Harvest flowers in the spring and summer and dry to enjoy their rich aroma throughout the year in herb tea.
10. Dahlia
Last to bloom with their late-season spectacular performance, dahlias make a great herb tea that prolongs the delights of summer. Cut blooms that are three-quarters open, not overly ripe. Look for firm, lush flower petals — not papery ones. Dry flowers on screens or in baskets and steep the blooms in hot water for about three minutes. Use solo or combine with other herbs and flowers for blended teas.
Of course, there are many other herbs and flowers that can be combined with these choices — mints, peony blooms, rugosa roses and hips, beebalm, pink clover, mullein and more. Your own taste will dictate the result, herb teas or mixes that can almost bring back summer in an instant. Packaged in gift bags, tied with ribbons and labelled with their contents, your home-grown herb teas make great gifts, enabling you to share the beauty and flavors with others too.
Lynette L. Walther is an award-winning journalist and gardener. She gardens in Camden.
