×
×
homepage logo

Foraging for a fall drink

By Kristi Hendricks - Garden Inspirations | Oct 20, 2023

Autumn afternoons are the perfect time for steeping a cup of tea, whether the tea is needed for leaf raking energy, for saluting milder temperatures or for comforting yourself and others while sitting in rockers on the back patio. But oops! Unfortunately, the tea caddy is bare, and there’s no time to travel to the grocer. Obviously, the mistress of the house wasn’t keeping the Lipton under lock and key. Now what’s a home gardener to do?

Well, let’s take a quick stroll around the garden to see what plants are available to brew a steaming pot of tea. We all know there are more tea producing plants out there than just the traditional camellia (Camellia sinensis) for making a cuppa.

Begin in the herb bed, where the anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) grows freely. This clump-forming perennial is a member of the mint family and is native to North America. For its blossoms of lavender-colored flowers in summer and anise-scented foliage, this plant is much beloved by bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and teetotalers alike. Pollinators enjoy the plant’s nectar and pollen, while we enjoy its aromatic leaves, freshly picked or dried for herbal teas. Combine it with catmint leaves for even more flavor and fragrance.

Now for the shrub garden. The leaves, twigs and berries of the spicebush (Lindera benzoin) are all edible and have an allspice scent and taste. For tea-making, the twigs are favored. During the Civil War, spicebush tea was often substituted for coffee as a warming beverage and for medicinal purposes. Early pioneers were said to have made “spring tonic” from this member of the laurel family. The caterpillar form of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly feeds on the leaves of this host shrub, while many species of birds seek out the bright red drupes appearing on its female plants amidst the yellowing fall foliage.

Early French settlers to our country learned from the Native Americans that leaves and bark from the “tree of life” could be used to treat scurvy, given the concentration of vitamin C available in it. The flattened sprays of its aromatic foliage are used even today for herbal teas. The Eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) of the Cupressaceae family is native to western Virginia, but has been successfully installed in Shepherdstown landscapes as screening hedges. More compact cultivars are commercially available for accent plantings. Once this needled evergreen matures, small cones appearing like flowers appeal to birds. Wildlife uses this tree’s canopy for nesting and shelter.

Home gardeners should be careful to always do the necessary research before ingesting plant parts deemed edible for making tea. Popular recipes can easily be found online, after the background check is performed. Other seasonal practices are available in Cooperative Extension publications. Review these, while enjoying a steaming sip of freshly brewed tea!

Kristi Hendricks is a graduate of Shepherd College and West Virginia University and a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at belowthejames@yahoo.com.