New Jersey Tea is grown for its foliage and the structure it brings to a planting. It's hardy across USDA zones 5 through 11 and shrugs off dry spells. Its late spring flowers are a real draw for honeybees, native bees, and butterflies. A nitrogen-fixer, it draws nitrogen from the air and feeds it back to the soil — turn it under or leave the roots in place, and the next planting inherits a richer bed.
New Jersey Tea — the short answer
New Jersey Tea: grown in zones 5–11, shade, pH 4.3–6.5.
- USDA zones
- 5–11
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.3–6.5
- USDA PLANTS
- Sun
- Shade
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score New Jersey Tea on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether new jersey tea actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score new jersey tea against your land's real conditions.
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See New Jersey Tea
What New Jersey Tea is
New Jersey Tea grows as a perennial and reaches around three feet at maturity. It blooms blue in late spring.
How to grow New Jersey Tea
New Jersey Tea grows in USDA zones 5 through 11. New Jersey Tea does best in shade — at least 2 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.3 to 6.5. It needs a growing season of at least 120 frost-free days and about 600 hours of winter chill, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
5-11
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.3 - 6.5
USDA PLANTS
Sun
Shade
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
Data pending
Growable Ground plant catalog
Cold Hardiness
-28°F
The coldest temperature this plant is documented to survive.
USDA PLANTS
Mature Height
3 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Chill Hours
600+
Winter hours below ~45°F it needs to fruit — too-mild winters can leave it bloom-shy.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
120+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant new jersey tea in shade with at least 2 hours of direct sun.
Match the soil
New Jersey Tea prefers pH 4.3 to 6.5 (USDA PLANTS). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band. It fixes its own nitrogen, so skip the high-nitrogen feed and instead dust the seed with a matching rhizobium inoculant at sowing.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. Match watering to the plant's drainage preference and your local rainfall.
Keep it in good form
Prune new jersey tea to shape as it grows; the reward is its foliage and structure, not a harvest, so steady upkeep is the whole job.
Where New Jersey Tea thrives
New Jersey Tea is hardy across USDA zones 5 through 11. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 5–11 spans average winter lows from -20°F to 50°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 29 outright and splits 21 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 5–11·Where New Jersey Tea growsOpen map →
Where New Jersey Tea stands, state by state
New Jersey Tea is rated for zones 5–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at -20 to -10°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 29 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 21 more, and 1 sits outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 5–11
29 states
3 of 29 shown
The line runs through
21 states
3 of 21 shown
New Jersey Tea’s band covers part of each of these states — which side of the line your county sits on changes the answer, and each state page draws it.
Outside zones 5–11
1 state
- North Dakota · zones 3b-4b
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant often works in a container that comes under cover. Each link is that state’s own growing hub.
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around New Jersey Tea
Growing guides for new jersey tea
In rotation planning, new jersey tea counts as a Other — beds recover best when other crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — new jersey tea isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
New Jersey Tea is a standout pollinator plant — high value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Your land is one point inside New Jersey Tea's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if New Jersey Tea will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether new jersey tea actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about New Jersey Tea
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow New Jersey Tea in my zone?
New Jersey Tea grows in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 11 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
When should you plant New Jersey Tea?
Time new jersey tea to your own season rather than the calendar, leaving enough of the season for its 120-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does New Jersey Tea need?
New Jersey Tea is shade-tolerant — it gets by on as little as 2 hours of direct sun, so it earns a place most vegetables can't use. A north-facing strip or the ground under a leafy canopy is right where it belongs. A Growable Ground report shows which corners of your land stay shaded through the day, turning those dim spots into planting spots.
What soil does New Jersey Tea need?
New Jersey Tea prefers soil pH 4.3 to 6.5 (USDA PLANTS). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does New Jersey Tea attract pollinators?
Yes — new jersey tea's flowers are a strong nectar and pollen source for honeybees, native bees, and butterflies. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Is New Jersey Tea safe for pets?
New Jersey Tea is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)