Bergamot plant for tea. Bergamot is also responsible for the lemon like citrus scent and taste thats a classic component of the beloved tea blend known as earl grey making it a no brainer element to include in a tea garden. Bergamot is an american perennial. Make the cut just below the base of.
Cut off bergamot flower heads when they bloom in early to late summer using garden shears or a sharp knife. Oil from the peel of the fruit and extract from the fruit juice are used to make medicine. The plant sets seed which are light brown ovals.
Bergamot is a plant that produces a type of citrus fruit. The paired leaves are dark green growing 4 6 inches long. Cover the seeds with a light dusting of soil.
Enliven the taste and look of salads by adding a sprinkling of bergamot flowers. During the american revolution bergamot tea was the most popular substitute for the unpatriotic english brew. It is best to use the flowers for tea the leaves have a hotter oregano like flavor.
Also known as oswego tea or bee balm bergamot tea is quite popular with native american indians. It has a dense rather shallow root system with any runners. Oswego tea made from wild bergamot flowers and leaves was the favorite choice of americans who turned to native plants to make their tea after losing access to british teas as a result of the boston tea party.
The tea leaves are either sprayed with bergamot extract or essential oil or mixed with dried. Gather the flower heads into small bundles then put each. Planting bergamot seeds you can plant bergamot seeds outdoors in early spring while the soil is cool and there is still a chance of a light frost.
Bee balm often called bergamot these bee pleasing additions to your garden emit a lovely scent similar to the unrelated bergamot fruit used to flavor earl grey tea. Bergamot tea is typically made from black tea leaves and the fruit of the citrus bergamia tree. The plant can be used as a cooking herb.
However the native american plant was exported to england in the mid 1700s where. When the seedlings have two sets of true leaves thin them to 18 to 24 inches apart. This tea has several medicinal benefits and is consumed by people with health issues like cough cold sinusitis etc.
Bergamot can be used in several ways outside of tea. It is 2 5 feet tall very erect leafy tubular stalk topped by a fuzzy flower cluster brilliant scarlet.