Camellia sinensis Korean Form (Korean tea)

This is the true tea bush. Yes, indeed, the beverage is also a garden-worthy evergreen shrub.

Why isn't everybody talking about what a massive block of leaves this shrub forms? This plant should be used more in gardens! We had two in front of our former house and they were vigorous evergreen screens that never missed a beat in zone 8 heat. The droughts never caused it the flag. We never saw any insects, but we did find a few stray seedlings (seedlings are a boon for potting up for passalong plants).

Tea shrubs are fantastic screening evergreens that are also useful - this shrub is obviously better known as the purveyor of caffeine when steeped in water. Tea for brewing can be made in your own back yard by pinching off the new growth and drying these young leaves in the sun. It does take a lot of pinching to make enough for a refreshing pitcher of tea, but you can do it rather easily.

The flowers look exactly like small Camellia flowers (because they are!). These white flowers are smaller than the strictly ornamental Camellias you're familiar with -  they are curiosities and cannot compete with their showy Camellia siblings in that regard. Tea flowers in the autumn, like many other Camellias.

Our form is the Korean line of tea with 1" diameter flowers and prominent yellow stamens. Some years flowering can be quite heavy, to provide fall interest, especially because the white flower buds are large and showy, almost as large as the flowers themselves.

• evergreen screening shrub
• edible ornamental: plant lots of tea bushes and brew your own caffeinated beverages
• tea shrubs are heat-tolerant stalwarts, but this Korean form brings a little more cold hardiness

• edible ornamental