Growing your own tea leaves is easier than you think.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Tea drinkers may already know that drinking tea may help prevent strokes, heart disease, and cancer, and a report in the most recent Journal of Nutrition states that tea is the number one source of flavonoids (those cancer- and cholesterol-busting antioxidants) in the American diet. But if you're buying your tea at the store, you're missing an opportunity to set yourself up with a lifetime supply of tea that's as fresh and pure as you can make it.

The Camellia plant genus, from which all forms of tea are harvested, is amazingly resilient and adaptable, says Douglas Ruhren, a horticulturist at the American Camellia Society. And while most forms of the camellia bush are decorative, the varieties used to grow tea are getting to be just as popular among home gardeners. "I know a number of people who have camellia nurseries, and for some of them, tea bushes are their biggest-selling camellias."

Buying the Right Variety

If you want to grow camellias for tea, stick with a Chinese variety, says Ruhren. In Latin terms, that's Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, not to be confused with Camellia sinensis var. assamica, which is an Indian tea; Indian tea plants are less tolerant of the cold. "These are really easy plants to grow if winters are warm," he adds, "and I think most people would have an easy time growing them." Tea bushes grow best in zone 7 climates (mostly Southeastern states), which could be why the only domestic tea plantation in the U.S. is located just outside Charleston, South Carolina. But you can grow them just about anywhere as long as you keep them indoors or in a greenhouse in the winter, says Ruhren.

The plants also aren't very picky about soil. "They're acid-loving to the extent that most of our common garden plants are acid-loving," Ruhren says, noting that you can usually grow them in the same type of soil you would a vegetable garden. They grow as well in full sun as they do in shade, but "if your plants are competing with trees that are thirsty, they won't grow as strongly," he says. And regarding water, camellia bushes are drought-tolerant and usually survive dry summers better than your average vegetable garden. Tea bushes can succumb to mites, scales, aphids, and caterpillars, but Ruhren says most pest problems can be solved with horticultural oil, a mechanical (not chemical) pesticide that kills pests by suffocating them, without harming birds or other insects.

If you can't find Camellia sinensis var. sinensis at a local nursery, you can order the plant online from Camellia Forest Nurseries in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Read on to learn how to brew backyard tea.