Camellia-The edible ornamental hiding in your garden

Camellias are a prized ornamental in the south known for their large bright flowers, tidy growing habit, and dense foliage. Often used for screening, foundation plantings, hedges, and container gardening. But did you also know they are THE Tea plant?

Camellia sinensis is used to create White, Yellow, Green, Black, Oolong, PU’ER, Matcha, and even Blooming Tea’s as well! These all come from the same plant but how they are processed decides what type of tea it will become.

There are 2 main varieities of Camellia sinensis. The first being Camellia sinensis var. sinensis. This variety creates flavors ranging from bright and fresh to malty. The var. sinensis is better suited for cooler climates as they are naturally grown and found in the mountains of China and Japan. The second variety of Camellia sinensis is var. assamica. This variety is better suited for tropical climates and is naturally found in places like India and Kenya. The flavors can range from mellow to grassy to malty.

Beyond the basic varieties, Camellias have been thoroughly domesticated and cultivated into hundreds of cultivars specially suited for your specific situation. Some cultivars like “da bai hao” are grown to create Japanese Yabukita. Another example is “chia tsao”. This cultivar is used to create an especially aromatic oolong tea. Cultivars have also been bred for cold hardiness. Cultivar “sochi” can be grown in hardiness zone 6B for example.

If you are an avid tea drinker and love gardening, we recommend you try out this plant in your landscape! Enjoy the blooms, the landscape value, and maybe even learn something new about a different culture as you make your own tea from your own plants!

If you want to learn more about tea we recommend you read: The Tea Book by Linda Gaylard

If you want to learn how to grow Camellia sinensis var. sinensis for tea, we found a book published by a nursery who specializes in tea plant cultivation here