🎨 AI-generated botanical illustration
🌱 New Jersey Tea
Ceanothus americanus
native_plants
deciduous shrub
☀️ Sun
full sun to partial shade
💧 Water
low to moderate
🗺️ Zones
[4,5,6,7,8,9]
🧪 Soil pH
5.5-7.5
🪴 Soil Type
well-drained, sandy, tolerates poor
📏 Spacing
2-3 ft
📐 Height
2-3 ft
🤝 Companions (3)
🤝 butterfly weed (asclepias)
Shared dry, sunny conditions; combined pollinator support
🤝 little bluestem (native grass)
Classic prairie/savanna companion; different root depths
🤝 wild bergamot (monarda fistulosa)
Native prairie companion; complementary bloom times
⚠️ Keep Apart (1)
⚠️ none — but slow to establish (deep taproot); plant in permanent location
📝 Growing Notes
The Revolutionary War tea plant. After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to New Jersey Tea — dried leaves make a genuinely good caffeine-free tea. Nitrogen-fixing roots improve soil. Flowers smell like honey and host dozens of native bee species. Deep red roots were used for dye.
🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Botanical Interests
True Leaf Market
Burpee
Territorial Seed Company
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