19 Types of Flower Tea You Should Grow In Your Garden

You can, indeed, make tea from just about anything. “Traditionally” tea refers to the drink made from the Camellia sinensis plant (So whether it’s black tea, green tea, white tea, and everything in between – it’s all from the same leaves), but floral or flower tea and herbal teas can make for some excellent blends, too.

flower tea

There are different views on what officially counts as tea, but for practical purposes, if you steep orange peels, you’ll have orange peel tea, and so on.

In this case, we’re going to be looking at a handful of different flowers that can be made into tea.

You can grow these at home in your garden, or just buy them already dried and ready to steep.

Some of these are already commonly used as blends with traditional tea leaves, and some of them are a bit less common.

Growing Flowers For Tea In Your Garden

Before you go and start steeping all sorts of pretty flowers, however, make sure they’re safe to consume!

While we did say that you can make tea out of anything, obviously you’ll want to stick to plants and flowers that are safe to consume.

Today, we will be looking at 19 of the best flowers that you can make into floral teas and put their flavors plus potential health benefits, and their smells into a hot or cold refreshing drink.

If you have any favorites of your own please let me know and we will endeavor to add them to our list!

19. Calendula Daisies

The Calendula plant is used for a lot of different things in both the fresh and dried version.

It can be used for making soap, salve, lotions, and lip balms plus other soothing topical creams.

A Calendula flower is so much more than just a pretty face. The bright yellow and orange flowers are bright and lovely, but once you learn about calendula tea benefits, you’ll have even more reasons to love this plant.

Growing Calendula for Tea Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is loved by gardeners for its vibrant orange and yellow flowers that brighten the backyard from the middle of summer until winter’s first breath but many people are also growing calendula for tea.

Calendula blossoms have long been renowned for their healing properties, and have been found useful for wounds, inflammations of the skin and mouth, and sunburns.

The benefits of tea made from calendula are also remarkable. Tea made from calendula is said to soothe the swelling of internal mucous membranes.

Sipping calendula tea may help heal gastric ulcers, congested lymph nodes, and sore throat. Some say that it can break a fever by causing sweat.

See a great range of Calendula Daisy tea online here.

18. Butterfly Pea Flower Tea

These beautiful flowers make an interesting herbal tea, it has the leaves of Clitoria ternatea and often has dried Lemongrass mixed in, too.

It’s served hot or cold and has some very unique properties.

The color of your drink will change as the PH value changes, for example, if you add some lemon juice it’ll turn from a deep, rich blue to a purple color.

You can even add some hibiscus to your blend and watch it turn bright red. It’s not just a drink, it’s a science experiment too!

17. Mullein Flower Tea

The Mullein flower tea is believed to help with lung health.

It’s found all over the United States and grows like a weed, you’ll see it on the sides of the highways and along gravel roads.

It has been used historically by Native Americans and is still recommended by some for its benefits on lung health, due to being an expectorant (a liquid that helps loosen mucus).

Mullein Tea has been used for thousands of years to treat respiratory conditions.

It may be especially effective at relieving asthma, which causes your airway to swell and results in symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.

The flowers and leaves of the plant are also used to treat other respiratory ailments, such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, tonsillitis, and pneumonia.

16. Tienchi Flower Tea

According to TeaCuppa, Tienchi Flower Tea can help with “cleaning the body of toxins, skin eruptions, boils, mouth blisters, dizziness, insomnia, etc” That’s quite a long list of health benefits!

The taste can be described as being “Cooling, slightly bitter with long sweet lingering aromas”.

In terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tienchi Flower Tea has been known to have some success for people suffering from dizziness and insomnia.

Tienchi Flower tea is thought to calm emotions and help sleep. Tienchi Flower Tea can also be especially useful to help maintain fluid levels when experiencing a cold or flu.

15. Lotus

flower tea

Lotus tea, or Lotus Flower Tea, is made from any combination of leaves, flowers, seeds, or even roots of the mystical Lotus.

You can often find lotus mixed with green tea to create an interesting, aromatic blend.

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14. Rosella

This is a specific type of Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) that is native to West Africa.

It is used in the production of fibers, and also to infuse into tea, and is sometimes known as Carcade.

It has a number of different names in different regions of the world, and some will even cook with it, to season lamb and other foods.

13. Passionflower

According to WebMD, Passionflower is used to help with a number of things, from insomnia and problems sleeping, to GI issues and upset stomachs, and a number of other related health issues.

It wasn’t until 1569 that Spanish explorers were introduced to this flower in Peru, where the Peruvians discovered it long before that.

12. Lavender

Lavender is commonly found as an essential oil, and even makes a tasty addition to cookies and other baked goods.

People drink lavender tea for things like digestive issues, relaxation, and even convulsions and spasms, according to healthline.

11. Hibiscus Tea

Hibiscus Tea is one of the more popular options on this list, it’s commonly enjoyed by tea lovers for a variety of reasons.

The American Heart Association has published a report saying that it can help lower blood pressure in certain circumstances, and some people even use it as a sports drink to help satiate thirst, in the form of iced tea.

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10. Bergamot

flower tea

Bergamot oil is a popular addition often found in Earl Grey tea, however it comes from the Bergamot orange, which is not the same as this flower.

This type of Bergamot is closer to mint than a citrus-y flavor, and some people enjoy making tea from it – even if it’s not the more standard type of Bergamot you’d find in Earl Grey.

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9. Lemongrass

Lemongrass tea has numerous benefits: it’s full of antioxidants, regulates blood pressure, heals colds, and flu plus it has been known to improve circulation.

It’s full of vitamin A and Vitamin C making it very good for skin, immunity, and body health.

8. Mint

When you think of mint, you probably imagine the fresh-tasting and aromatic green leaves, and that’s what is commonly used in tea – but there are also some pretty little flowers to appreciate.

Mint may be the most popular plant on this list when it comes to finding its way into tea because it can help with a number of things, including oral health, and most notably the flavor. 

7. Borage

Borage tea has a really pretty, deep blue color to it. It’s also known as Burrage, beebread, talewort, and more.

Initially in the Mediterranean, it has become popular in both North America and Europe, as well as other places in the world.

It’s a unique look and visual appeal make it a popular garden plant, but some people also enjoy giving the leaves a nice steep.

6. Rose Petal Tea

Tea can be made from roses, using different parts of the flower, but the petals in particular give a very interesting taste.

The petals can be steeped either dried or fresh. It’s more popular in the Middle East, according to OrganicFacts.net.

Rose petals can also be nice to mix with other types of tea, it’s interesting with Jasmine tea, and fun to experiment with.

5. Rose Hips

According to Epic Gardening, Rose Hips are one of the ten best foods you can forage for.

They make for an interesting tea and actually have some interesting effects, too. 

Rose hips have significantly more vitamin C than oranges, can work as a mild laxative and diuretic, and are high in antioxidants.

4. Anise-Hyssop

These distinct purple plants can be steeped into a tea with a taste that’s quite reminiscent of black licorice.

It was steeped by the First Nation people in North America for a variety of effects.

3. Chamomile Tea

This herb has been used for hundreds and hundreds of years around the world, but in America, it is most commonly known as a tea that people will drink before bedtime or help relieve an upset stomach.

In Germany, it has been approved to be used on the skin to help with things like fighting bacteria, reducing swelling, and to help with stomach aches.

2. Chrysanthemum Tea

Tea made from Chrysanthemum comes from old Chinese medicine, and you’ll often find it served with cane sugar or rock sugar.

In the west, it is used for circulatory issues like varicose veins.

This flower represents joy and happiness and is the official flower of Chicago.

1. Globe Amaranth

These bright purple buds will change the color of the tea to a bright pinkish-purple, which makes it a really fun option for tea parties or to mix with a delicate white tea for an enhanced and unique flavor in addition to what the Globe Amaranth offers on its own.

Please note that in some cases, such as with Yaupon where the berries are dangerous to eat but the leaves are okay, certain parts of the plant are considered safe to use and others are not.

Before going and trying to steep any of these flowers, you need to do your own research to ensure that it’s safe, that it won’t have any negative interactions with medications you may be taking, that you don’t have any allergies, and so on. 

Both tea and gardening can be wonderful hobbies, and the opportunity to combine them together is very exciting!