A short shrub growing 2-3 feet tall, New Jersey Tea is an excellent flowering plant to include in a mixed border planting.
New Jersey Tea ranges all across Eastern North America from the coast to the edge of the Great Plains in Nebraska and Kansas. It is mostly found in full sun to part shade, growing in prairies and on thin, rocky slopes with little tree cover.
New Jersey Tea has white flower clusters that bloom in Late Spring to Early Summer. The flowers really fill out the plant in a cultivated spot, giving off a sweet floral scent.
New Jersey Tea is an excellent shrub, especially for foundation plantings - They only grow 2-3 feet tall, making them the ideal size for small gardens.
New Jersey Tea was used as a tea substitute during the Revolutionary War - The tea is said to have antimicrobial properties, making it good to include with other herbs as an herbal tea.
Bees and butterflies frequent New Jersey Tea, and the twigs are fed on by rabbits and deer. Several moth species utilize it as a larval host plant.
New Jersey Tea is easy to grow, as long as the good drainage requirement can be met. Space 3 feet apart in good soil, and water well for the first month or so.
New Jersey Tea is very drought tolerant once established. Deer and rabbits do readily feed on the plants, so some protection may be required in areas with heavy populations of these animals.
| Common Name: | New Jersey Tea |
| Botanical Name: | Ceanothus americanus |
