Zone: 3 to 8

Soil: sand to loam

Light: Full sun to part sun

Bloom colour: White

Bloom period: Early summer

Height: Up to 3 feet

Moisture: Dry

Attracts: A variety of insects.

Notes: New Jersey tea is a low shrub that is native to the eastern half of North America including Ontario. It flowers for a couple of weeks in early summer and then becomes a rather drab plant. Each inflorescence is a small 2-inch panicle covered in lots of tiny white flowers.

After waiting a few years for this shrub to reach a reasonable size, you will be pleasantly surprised by its wildlife value. It attracts a plethora of insects including beneficial wasps and some interesting beetles. Several different butterflies such as hairstreaks will visit new Jersey tea and it is also a host plant for the summer azure and the mottled duskywing. Unfortunately, the beetles will eat some of the flowers, but one has to accept that plants in a wildlife garden are not just for pollinators.

This plant thrives in well-drained soils under drought conditions due to a deep tap root. I would not plant this in a clay soil. Since it is a small shrub, it is easy to find a spot for it in a perennial flower bed. While it does grow en masse in the wild, I would not try to imitate this in a suburban garden because you would be left with a lot of unremarkable plants when it is not in bloom. Instead, try planting single specimens to offset other flowers with strong colours. Butterfly milkweed is a great companion plant for new Jersey tea. Since, it is a shrub, you can trim it down to a particular size after it has flowered.