You've grown vegetables, fruits, and flowers, so now how about a nice cup of tea? Patrick Murphy, host of GLT's Grow, has advice for Kevin in Bloomington about the right plants for tea leaves.
*Murph has some good news and some bad news when it comes to growing tea: It's tough to grow tea plants, especially in Zone 5, but if you succeed, you'll savor every cup.
*Tea plants love consistency, which you can't count on in Zone 5.
*You can grow a tea plant in a pot and move it indoors come winter, so it will grow like a house plant. It will have less production in he winter, though.
*Try an indoor bonsai plant; their tiny leaves can be used for tea. The leaves grow quickly, too.
*Drying the leaves to use for tea is tricky because before the leaves dry, mold can possibly set in.
*Raising from seed is possible, but you'll have a long wait before the plant is big enough to pluck leaves off of it.