Miranda Arney

I’ve always wanted a tea garden. I want to sit in my tea garden wearing a red hat with purple and yellow flowers in a cute dress sipping tea surrounded by my beautiful friends, flowers and tea plants.

A tea pot with delicate flowers hand painted on it by some unknown great artist inherited by generations of tea gardeners. The teacups delicate in nature poured with tea brimming in my cup. Sipping fresh herb snipped from the gardens warmed to perfection. The scent of lemon balm wafting to my nose as the warm liquid touches my lips.

Chatting with my girlfriends sitting in a gazebo with vines moon flower and Evergreen Wisteria scented of grape purple, the sun breaking through the trees in effort to join us. Bees and butterflies flitting and bumbling about enjoying their own nectar.

Discussing our next great find to simmer. Chocolate mint with its lavender flowers to be planted, spearmint leaves wafting in our vision, Camellia sinensis blooming to our delight, falling into our tea sea from the branches, flower petals floating in our steamy pot of teasing tea.

Chamomile for that one friend that always shows up.

Might put a little passion flower in her cup.

Lemon grass waving in the wind flagging us down. Pulling back the stalk of grass to the bare white fragrant inner parts. Should I save it to cook with? Not sure, it’s tea season.

Ginger, not my red headed cousin but the one I planted from the grocery store. I use the one from the grocery store because all gingers are not edible and some just do not have great flavor- they all make great flowers but the ones from the grocery store are for flavorful culinary experiences. The tea pot too.

Mint Julip, is that tea? Works for me. Mojito mint for evening other tea.

Pineapple mint, apple mint, spearmint, pennyroyal (WHAT? That’s a MINT?) water mint (I bet you can’t guess where that one grows) with its blue and lavender flowers. Bergamot mint perfume and tea in one plant. Enjoyable just to have growing where one of my friends can roll in it when no one is looking.

Horsemint. I tried to give it to someone, and they just didn’t want that weed. I must not have been wearing my red hat and purple flowers. It’s considered medicinal and has a slightly lemony flavor that pairs well with fish and poultry but this is about tea.

Grapefruit mint like it sounds? Maybe not my cup of tea but I haven’t tried it?

Tea garden, red hats, purple grape flowers, warm liquid in my delicate vessel. my friends discussing notes of delicious delicacies arising from our garden brew, coveting tea seaming in my chalice in the gazebo.

Ephemerally ethereal.

But here I am barefoot, no gloves or hat in the yard making sure I do not step on a snake, pulling weeds, knocking it out of the ballpark — well, the garden.

No complaints.

Special thank you to Ann McDowell for the picture of the teacups bouquets we made a few years ago.