Christine Parks’ family has been collecting, growing and selling ornamental Camellias and Camellia sinensis tea plants for nearly four decades in Chapel Hill, N.C. at the Camellia Forest Nursery, the premiere Camellia retailer on the East Coast.
Parks – who is trained as a scientist and worked in a variety of settings, including 25 years as an environmental epidemiologist – first came to know Camellia sinensis after marrying into the nursery… but she hardly imagined a future devoted to tea.
The idea for the nursery’s Tea Gardens came after a visit to Hangzhou, China, where Parks fell head-over-heels in love with all-things tea – cultivation, culture, history and the amazing world of high-quality tea.
“Together with my husband David, we founded the Tea Gardens in 2006, when we acquired an old 24-acre farmstead near our home and realized we had an unparalleled opportunity to expand our diverse collection and plantings of Camellia sinensis,” said Parks, who’s the owner and operator of the Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens and author of Grow Your Own Tea: The Complete Guide to Cultivating, Harvesting, and Preparing (Timber Press, published in Fall 2020).
“While establishing the tea gardens, I dove in deep into researching tea, soon nominated to head the Tea Committee at the American Camellia Society, also organizing outreach, writing and speaking about tea to gardeners. Fifteen years later, here we are – still growing and learning, sharing, and embracing this lifetime journey in tea.”
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
At the Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens, the overall mission is to grow and produce small-batch handcrafted tea, in addition to building community with gardeners and tea lovers, to foster lifelong learning about growing and making tea.
“From the very start, the gardens were intended to be a resource for people to learn about growing and making tea – including ourselves and nursery customers – but eventually so much more as our mission has grown over the years alongside the gardens,” explained Parks.
Selling Tea Plants to the Public and U.S. Farmers
Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens propagates and sells thousands of tea plants every year to gardeners and farmers across the United States.
“We took the name ‘Tea Gardens’ because we currently have five generations of tea plantings with different sites, plants and purposes,” shared Parks. “These gardens allow us to trial new varieties, provide plant materials for the nursery, and support our tea production and educational mission. Together, they add up to almost an acre, and we expect to expand to two to three acres in the next five years as we clear more land. At this point, we don’t plan to get much larger, as this is enough to satisfy our mission.”
Parks noted that their collection of tea germplasm is diverse, including many varieties of Camellia sinensis var sinensis from around the world, as well as var assamica (large leaf from Yunnan). “I can spend most of a day telling their stories and discussing their qualities,” she pointed out. “One of my favorites is a plant brought to North Carolina over 100 years ago from Japan, which makes some pretty nice green tea in the spring.”
In addition to Camellia sinensis, the nursery grows related species, including Camellia ptilophylla. Parks said this is sometimes called “cocoa tea,” since instead of caffeine it has theobromine, the alkaloid found in chocolate. “It makes a lovely white tea,” she said. “Suffice it to say, these plants provide ample opportunity to select varieties for cultivation – including ones that grow well in our climate, and selections that work better for different types of tea.”
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
Besides selling to gardeners and tea enthusiasts, Camellia Forest Nursery supports small farmers by providing plant materials, and by providing seeds on a budget. “We harvest high-quality seed of known parentage – at least the mother plant – and exceptional storage conditions, so germination rates are high,” she said. “For those who want a bit more help, or a head start, we provide germinated seedlings and plants, including clonal selections, with a specialty in cold hardiness. We sometimes consult on site and make deliveries of larger plants.”
According to Parks, many people come to the tea world with great inspiration, so in addition to providing an introduction to growing and advice for their situation, they try to help aspiring tea growers to manage expectations. They also focus on driving home the three most important requirements for tea gardening (besides a suitable site and soils) – planning, patience and persistence.
“In the planning stage, or while they wait for their plants to develop for the first three to six years, sometimes growers will also join our workshops for hands-on experience or learn alongside our occasional volunteers or in private tutorials,” said Parks.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
Hand-On Education & Workshops
In terms of building community, sharing and educating is a central part of the mission at the Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens. In 2008, they began opening the gardens for tours and tastings, with free events in May, following the first flush, and later in October, to celebrate the end of the growing season. Parks said these two events have become large enough that they’ll probably start offering them by reservation or over two days instead of just one.
For the past 10 years, they’ve been offering hands-on workshops, private tutorials and internships, introducing growers to Camellia sinensis cultivation, harvesting and processing.
“Our students range from beginning to master gardeners, to homesteaders and small farmers,” said Parks. “We keep our classes small – limited to 10 to 20 students, depending on the topic – which gives us the chance to really get to know people’s interests and experiences. Given my science background, I like to understand and share some of the more technical background behind what we’re teaching, and reserve plenty of time for discussion. We also enjoy learning from our students, their questions and related expertise. We’ve met so many interesting people over the years. We’ve been especially lucky to meet people who are knowledgeable about tea, such as our friend Danielle Hochstetter [who has a master’s degree in tea from China’s Zhejiang University; she's pictured below]. She has started offering a Tea 101 class at Camellia Forest, with a historic and global perspective, alongside a curated tea tasting.”
The workshops at the Tea Gardens at Camellia Forest Nursery – especially the harvesting and processing workshops – tend to fill up quickly, so they keep a wait list and sometimes try to add more dates.
“We have had plenty of people travel from out-of-state to participate in our classes, but sometimes they can’t make the trip,” noted Parks. “So, we started creating video workshop materials through Patreon, with beyond-the-book content, and supplemented by regular postings on seasonal tea, gardening topics and a monthly Zoom ‘sip and chat’ session, where members can submit questions in advance or discuss any issues they may be facing in their gardens. Their support helps us sustainably grow our educational outreach, while growing tea community.”
Besides hosting visitors from the tea industry, the number of community members and those interested in agritourism and learning about tea continues to rise at the Tea Gardens at Camellia Forest Nursery.
“I think agritourism has grown to meet people’s desire to know where their food comes from, to become part of the story through visiting farms and meeting the growers,” Parks pondered. “In our experience, there is also an agricultural therapy angle – just like gardening – where people find comfort in interacting with growing things. Also, people really enjoy being able to get outside and celebrate the natural world.”
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
‘Tea Grows Really Well in North Carolina’
In the early days of the Tea Gardens at Camellia Forest Nursery, Parks and her team faced some challenges. “We killed a lot of plants in our first garden, which we situated on hillside terraces that ended up having terrible drainage problems lower down near the bottom of the hill,” revealed Parks. “Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming, also, since we were clearing new land and weeds could easily became a problem since we didn’t use any pesticides.”
When Parks and her team started growing tea seriously, there were relatively few growers in the United States, and there was little accessible information on best practices for beginners. However, she did find some support and advice.
“I remember feeling like an undercover agent at my first World Tea Conference + Expo in Atlanta, trying to learn all I could about tea and the tea industry,” she said. “I also began to seek out other tea growers producing tea in the public sphere. Besides Bill Hall – from what was called the Charleston Tea Plantation back then [Hall passed away in 2022] – I enjoyed learning from Donnie Barret, who founded the Fairhope Tea Plantation over 40 years ago, who was so generous sharing his experience, then Eva Lee from Tea Hawaii, and other growers with established plantings in Oregon and Washington state."
Parks said the U.S. League of Tea Growers – organized in large part by Jason MacDonald from The Great Mississippi Tea Company and Nigel Melican from Teacraft – also helped her on her journey with her tea gardens, in addition to connecting with other growers at the tea growers annual meetings, visiting start-up farms, and connecting with researchers at UC Davis, who are working on establishing tea as a crop in the Central Valley of California. "We hope people will take the time to learn about tea farmers near them and support their efforts either as customers or through agritourism opportunities," Parks noted.
Parks said she’s also appreciative of the support of America’s well-known “Tea Sage” and tea author, James Norwood Pratt, a North Carolina native who was a regular visitor to Camellia Forest Nursery before the Tea Gardens took root. “His were the first books I read on my tea journey, and I have treasured sharing our tea and touring our gardens with him on his visits to Chapel Hill,” said Parks. “I have cherished his encouragement, especially over the last couple of years as he coached me through the challenges of growing into the public sphere as a first-time author [of Grow Your Own Tea: The Complete Guide to Cultivating, Harvesting, and Preparing].”
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
Parks noted that tea grows really well in North Carolina, but the main early challenges on their property included the local clay soil, cold winters, vigorous person-sized weeds, and a general lack of experience in managing a larger planting. “We face cold winters sometimes, which can be a problem for some of our plants,” shared Parks. “We call it ‘cold hardiness testing”’ when we get a super cold spell with temperatures below 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit; luckily, this doesn’t happen too often.”
Parks added: “A challenge all growers are facing now is the fact that weather events tend to be more extreme – too much rain, or lack thereof, and higher summertime temperatures, which inhibit tea growth and can stress the plants. We’re experimenting with adaptive practices, including using existing pine forest and other trees to provide shade, together with situating our gardens to minimize the impacts of heavy rain.
Right now, the Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens harvests and processes everything by hand, and they produce enough tea (about 100 pounds, which yields about 20 pounds of finished tea – more than 4,500 cups of tea) to supply their on-farm events and to offer samples to visitors, in addition to selling a very limited supply at these events. They also look forward to scaling up their production in the coming years, and selling off-farm as supplies allow.
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
Advice for Growing Tea in the United States
What advice does Park have for those who are thinking about growing tea in the United States?
“First, I like to remind people that tea plants take a few years to get established, and those early years are key,” she said. “Take the time to plan – know your site, soils and drainage, and make whatever adjustments are needed before planting. Growing tea can be a labor of love, while you patiently wait for plants to mature. Also, people don’t like to cut their plants – it can be scary – but formation pruning is really important for the first several years. It is worth the effort to have a healthy plant with a strong frame to provide tea to harvest for many years to come.”
Parks pointed out that farmers have many other challenges of scale to consider, whether to grow organic, costs of production, etc. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Parks said that she often meets people who want to grow tea in unusual circumstances – including in pots on the patio or porch.
“The most important advice for them is that tea is not a happy houseplant,” she said. “It is doable, but there are key considerations for keeping tea alive in pots. I write about them in the book and plan future Patreon content specifically dedicated to raising tea in pots, which includes most of what we grow at Camellia Forest.”
For those that want to learn more, Parks’ book, co-authored by Susan M. Walcott, offers a comprehensive introduction to growing tea and is useful to all types of growers.
"Many people want to harvest and process their own tea, but first you have to have a healthy vigorous plant – which is a central focus of the book, but mostly on getting started,” explained Parks. “At some point we’ll need to update with more information about more advanced topics. We also tell the stories of tea farmers across the U.S. and beyond – people who shared their experiences with us and what they wish they had known when they were starting out. We hope people will take the time to learn about tea farmers near them and support their efforts either as customers or through agritourism opportunities.”
The Future of Growing Tea
What does the future hold for the Camellia Forest Nursery & Tea Gardens? Parks said that over the next five to 10 years they’ll continue to expand their gardens and capacity for educational outreach. They’re also looking forward to the transition to more production and sales and helping other local growers with processing their leaf in their new Tea Studio.
“We are finally realizing our long-held dream of having a dedicated building for tea – what we’re calling our Tea Studio, a place where we craft tea and welcome the community of farmers, students and visitors to the garden,” said Parks. “The downstairs will house equipment we need for larger scale production – such as woks, rollers, ovens – while the upstairs will be a space for classes and special events, including tour groups and private parties. Our guests currently enjoy drinking tea in the shady grove of pine trees located in the midst of our tea gardens that will continue to be a central meeting place. But we are really excited to have this new indoor space that will improve accessibility and comfort in all types of weather.”
(Photo: Courtesy of the Tea Gardens at the Camellia Forest Nursery)
Parks concluded that her tea gardens’ and nursery’s focus on the visitor experience will remain strong. They also envision a local network of small tea farmers in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, and they look forward to hosting guests from abroad, expert lecturers and even student interns.
“Right now, what excites me the most is how we are building a tea community with so many amazing people – from farmers and gardeners learning about tea, to tea lovers learning how it’s grown,” shared Parks. “There is plenty of work involved to successfully grow tea, especially as a commodity crop, however there is also something life affirming and wholesome about growing and producing a healthy and delicious drink. What we do – growing tea and building a tea community – is exciting to me, and along with sharing what we know and what we grow with gardeners and tea lovers.”
To learn more about the Tea Gardens at Camellia Forest Nursery, or the nursery itself, visit TeaFlowerGardens.com and CamForest.com. For details on Parks’ book, "Grow Your Own Tea," click here.
Aaron Kiel is an editor, writer and public relations professional in Raleigh, N.C. He’s worked in the beverage, tea and coffee industries for two decades, as well as hospitality and technology. He’s a journalist at heart, but he also wears a PR and communications hat through his consultancy, ak PR Group. He’s a contributing writer/reporter for Questex’s Bar & Restaurant News, and he recently worked as the editor of World Tea News with Questex’s Bar & Restaurant Group. In 2023, he was a finalist and honorable mention in the “Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards” for Range of Work by a Single Author – B2B.” Connect with him on Instagram: @adventurer_explorer.
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