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My favorite tea makin's are alfaalfa, lemon balm, mint all kinds, rose hips, rosemary, and thyme, although zesty, mineral-rich teas can be brewed from almost any edible herb, wild or cultivated. Herbs for tea are not hard to grow. Most do well in a sandy loam fortified with a small amount of compost. If like me, you decide to grow some or all of your herbs in pots indoors, you'll want to make sure those containers have holes in their bottoms for good drainage. Many tea ingredients can be foraged. Here in western Montana, for instance, I go up into the hills every spring to gather wild strawberry, raspberry, and huckleberry leaves, each of which lends a delightful tanginess to otherwise mild tea blends.
I also forage clover blossoms and alfalfa and wild mint. If you don't know how to identify these or other wild-tea ingredients, ask an old-timer in your area to show you what's what. One "flavor ingredient"I like to use in my teas is citrus peel. I buy only organically grown grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes for this purpose, since the rinds of the agribiz citrus fruits sold in supermarkets are often coated with pesticides and or coal tar dyes, then after grating the peel finely I set the tangy tidbits out to dry on paper towels. The list of possible tea ingredients is very long much too long to present in this limited amount of space. So you'll have some idea of the possibilities, however, here are a few of the many plant materials you can use to make delicious hot and old teas.
Herbal teas can be drunk hot, at room temperature or iced. They can be made into ice cubes with fresh fruit and flowers and used to flavor festive holiday punches. They're delicious blended with fruit juice and frozen as pops for children. For a medicinal, tea to be effective, it must be administered in small amounts several times daily. For chronic problems, serve the tea three or four times daily. For acute ailments such as colds, fevers and headaches, take several small sips every 30 minutes until the symptoms subside.