Tea time: How to grow a tea garden in a container

Question: I have some extra containers on my patio. Do you have suggestions for how to fill them? I’m wondering if herbs would work.

Answer: Why not start an herbal tea garden? Tea is often made from the leaves or blossoms of herbs you can grow in your yard. Some herbs, like mint, can be invasive, sending out creeping rhizomes that are difficult to eradicate. Containers not only restrain herb growth, they make it easier to harvest and maintain herbs.

To plant your tea garden, use containers with holes in the bottom, for good drainage. Use larger pots, to give the plants more room to mature. You might even combine two or more plants in one pot. Just make sure to allow 1 gallon of soil for each herb. Fill the containers with moist, but not soggy, potting mix, and if it doesn’t already contain fertilizer, add a little of the granular type.

You can plant herbs from seeds or start with seedlings. Sow seeds according to the directions on the seed packet. You can start them indoors in little seeding pots and transplant them to larger pots after the last frost. Or you can plant them outdoors in containers when the weather warms. When setting transplants, make sure the root ball is level with, or slightly below, the soil.

Water herbs regularly, as containers tend to dry out. Many of the herbs we discuss below lean toward drought tolerance; be careful to avoid overwatering. A good rule of thumb is to let the top 2 or 3 inches of soil dry between waterings.

Some tea is made from the leaves of the plant, others from the flowers. To harvest leaves, remove them with sharp scissors or hand shears. Make clean cuts, taking about 5% of the plant’s total volume while also removing dead or damaged leaves. Harvest the most tender leaves before the plant blooms, as flowering can make leaves tough and bitter.

When using flowers, harvest them right at their peak, when the blossoms have just opened, and in the morning, when they’re freshest.

Some good plants for tea gardens are:

Mint: Mint (Mentha spp.) comes in many varieties, including peppermint, spearmint, chocolate, orange and mojito. It can be fun to grow more than one and experiment with different types. You can harvest mint year-round, although some mints die back in the winter and rebound in the spring. Cautious gardeners grow mint on patios or other firm surfaces, as some varieties can be aggressive, escape the pot and spread out into the garden.

Lemon balm: Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has a lemony aroma and flavor that goes well with other herbs in tea. It grows around 2 feet high and tolerates full sun or part shade. A member of the mint family, it too can be invasive. Cut off the white flowers to avoid self-seeding.

Bee balm: Not to be confused with lemon balm, bee balm (Monarda spp.) is a native of North America. Like many herbs on this list, it’s a member of the mint family. Its leaves have an orange flavor with sagelike undertones. This perennial produces velourlike flowers in a variety of colors including pink, lavender and scarlet that attract bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Bee balm can be susceptible to powdery mildew. Though sometimes called "wild bergamot,” it’s not the same as the ingredient found in Earl Grey tea, which is the oil of the bergamot orange.

Pineapple sage: The leaves of pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) have a fruity flavor and smell like pineapple. Hummingbirds love the scarlet flowers on this late-blooming shrub. It can get up to 4 feet tall and may need staking if not frequently pruned. Pineapple sage likes sun and is drought-tolerant; be careful not to overwater it. In winter, this sage dies back to the ground. Mulch around the roots, and it should return in the spring.

Anise Hyssop: Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) has a subtle licorice flavor and a savory scent reminiscent of tarragon or basil. The plant prefers sun and will get lanky if grown in part shade. It can grow up to 4 feet tall and produces spikes of tubular, two-lipped blossoms that bees and other pollinators love.

German chamomile: The daisylike flowers of German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) are often used in teas. Harvest the blossoms once they have fully opened and the petals are horizontal. Avoid stems and leaves when harvesting; they aren’t used in tea. If you allow a few flowers to go to seed, they will self-sow and you can grow chamomile next year as well.

For more information, see:

How to select and use garden herbs: bit.ly/3IUgHcR

Growing herbs: bit.ly/3SCTOy4

Herb container gardens: bit.ly/3YaSPpD

What to do in the garden in March

• Pull weeds before they set seed and while the soil is soft. Don’t add seed-bearing weeds to your home compost. Put them into your municipal green waste bin.
• Mid-March is the time to plant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, beets, carrots, collard greens, bunching onions and kale.
• “Chop and drop” cover crop plants, also known as green manure. Chop the plants into small pieces, leave them on the soil and cover them with a layer of compost. As they decompose, they enrich the soil with nitrogen that will be available for uptake by your spring and summer crops. For more about cover crops, see bit.ly/3JYwbgX.
• If you planted fava beans as a cover crop, cut them down to ground level before the flowers produce seeds. You also can add them to your home compost pile. If you want fava beans for cooking, allow some of them to ripen to maturity.
• Plant bulbs such as amaryllis, gladioli, dahlias, calla lilies and daylilies for a pop of summer color in your garden. Right now, our local nurseries and gardening centers carry a nice assortment of bulbs.
• Repot and feed houseplants. Their growing season begins in early spring.
• Treat roses and other flowering perennials with an organic fertilizer at bud break and then once a month thereafter, following manufacturer instructions.

Contributors to this week’s column were Joy Lanzendorfer, Karen Felker, Patricia Decker and Debbie Westrick. The UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County, sonomamg.ucanr.edu, provides environmentally sustainable, science-based horticultural information to Sonoma County home gardeners. Send your gardening questions to scmgpd@gmail.com. You will receive answers to your questions either in this newspaper or from our Information Desk. You can contact the Information Desk directly at 707-565-2608 or mgsonoma@ucanr.edu.