The tea shrub is one of many wonders New Zealand has given us
Apretty shrub with vivid pink frilly flowers caught my eye this week. On closer inspection it turned out to be Leptospermum scoparium, better known as the New Zealand tea shrub.
You might have heard of manuka honey which is derived from this shrub – in recent years it became very popular for its anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties and the price of manuka honey rose correspondingly high.
Its flowers are nectar rich and bees flock to drink from them. It also makes a pretty garden shrub though is probably best in milder coastal areas as it’s borderline hardy.
It got me thinking about other shrubs from New Zealand that have become a normal part of our gardening vocabulary in these islands.
With its cool, temperate climate, New Zealand has given us interesting plants that we have adopted as our own.
For example, New Zealand flax, or phormium, is a very common sight in these parts, grown for its evergreen thick strappy leaves and architec