The Tea Garden

Tea –  Caffeine Various

Tea plant – Camelia Sinensis
This is the true tea plant that green and black teas are made from.  We have found that it grows well as an understory plant in the part shade, in neutral soils with high organic matter.  Most other citations point to needing acidic soil, but we have found the high organics omit the requirement of the acid soil for the plant to acquire its nutrients.  If you have poorer soils, then acid profile should be considered.    The tea we grew in the sun did not thrive, as did our blueberries, so into the understory… and all is well.
More from PFAF…

Youpan Holly – Ilex Vomitra
An evergreen shrub or small tree reaching 5–9 m tall, with smooth, light gray bark and slender, hairy shoots, that can grow in part shade.  The name gives it a bad rap – as the first nations were found using it in ritual ceremonies  and then vomiting, but it seems that there were anther roots and things in the tea as well.  In 2012 this began selling as a cultivated tea in the US.
Wikipedia has better info on this than PFAF – Wiki link…
PFAF  link…