@robjohn you beat me in a few hours 
yesterday i started reading the topic,again. Now I wanted to revive it and saw you overtook me. Great job 
I’m curios how they survive this year. Maybe I’ll try to grow it also.
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I have Camellia sasanqua and Camellia japonica survivIng at my location too. They are planted next to the house to shield them from winter wind and sun. The leaves bronze and burn when exposed to sunlight in freezing weather. I even had buds survive -3 degrees and bloomed this past spring.
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Mine did very well over winter and is currently flowering profusely. It’s a little unkempt, I think next year I will prune and train it into a better form
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Wow! It looks great. May I ask where you’re located and which side of the house this is planted on?
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I have Camellia sinensis growing in a pot. I noticed that it didn’t like the summer heat all that much but did start to grow more as it cooled off in August and was a lot cloudier. I think next summer i need to shade it way more in summer.
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zone 6B in WV, USA. It’s planted on the South side of the house
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Amazing. Did the flowers produce any seeds? If so maybe some of the seedlings would be even more cold hardy.
Here are some related Camellia sasanqua in bloom in Tokyo. Most are done flowering and have seed pods at this time. I think this one is used for tea as well and the seeds are turned into an edible oil.
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The flowers usually do not produce fruit/seed, I believe C. sinensis and a large amount of Camellia spp. in general exhibit some form of self-incompatibility but occasionally may be self fertilzed. If I find any seed (haven’t so far, and it’s put on a lot of flowers in the last couple of years), I’ll be super happy and grow them out to compare cold hardiness traits specifically
“Since its low natural seed set and weak self-fertility, tea
was considered to be self-incompatibile (SI) plant.”
Late-acting self-incompatibility in tea plant ( Camellia sinensis )
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I didn’t realize that you only had 1 plant. You may have already stated this in previous posts but what nursery did you acquire it from?
it is a seedling of ‘Sochi’ variety, I purchased it a few years ago from One Green World
Do tea plants require a lot of heat to grow? We are 8b, but do not get a lot of heat. Summer average highs in mid/high 70s, and daily lows in high 50s/low 60s.
Would the quality be worth growing a tea hedge?
I don’t believe that they require much heat (mine have seemed to not like the intense 95f+ weather/scorching sun we had here in abundance in my region this summer). Here’s an article I was reading not too long ago mentioning a new tea venture in Oregon: Growing Camellia Sinensis - Sunset Magazine
I do know that they don’t like cold, desiccating wind, and that they do enjoy rich, slightly sandy and acidic soil
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Yaupon tea is great! When I lived in Arkansas, I would collect the new leaves from in front of the library before the hedge trimmers got to them. If you just dry it straight, it’s kinda like a green tea. If you roast it in a low oven to dry, it’s much more like Yerba mate. I like it enough that I’m considering getting a dwarf variety to plant in front of my south facing foundation here in NH. Hopefully it’s just enough warmer to make it work. And there’s always floating row cover.
I also really like NJ tea. It’s the most tea-like infusion I’ve found, but no caffeine.
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Your more right then you realize Yerba Mate is Ilex paraguariensis and Yaupon is Ilex vomitoria.
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Yes! And they both have that nice chocolate undertone from the theobromine. I’ve heard other hollies will produce a similar tea, but without the caffeine. I’ve yet to try them, though.
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My Sochi
My BlushingMaiden (red flowering) It suffered quite a bit last winter but recovered. I will be taking extra steps to protect it this year.
!
Tea Breeze
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Is there a significant difference in the caffeine, aroma, or flavor of the varieties? I am interested in planting a few, but have no real info about the difference between varieties.
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I would like to know this as well. I’d imagine it’s complex to figure out, between the different varieties, the terroir, season/weather, and even then how the tea is harvested, prepped, and then (ultimately) brewed, could make a huge difference at every step
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Honestly I dont know. I pick a few leaves occasionally but tea is made from new growth in the spring. So I have left it to bulk up.
I have a variety that supposedly has no caffeine, but I don’t have equipment to verify that. Some variety I have(large leaves type) more suitable to be harvested branches vs harvested tips (small leaves type)due to its growth l habit. I can’t tell the significant different in flavor if used fresh (not fermented)
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