Thursday, October 21, 2010

Chrysanthemums - Fall mums, and flower tea.




The mums blooming in my front yard reminded me that we are completely out of Chrysanthemum tea. I never knew such a thing existed, until I met my husband. He is the chinese version of Kenny Chesney. He tells me stories of his childhood barefoot, on the back of a cow, or herding the ducks in at night... The stories of the first person in the village to have a TV, and how all the kids would come and peek through the windows to watch tv. Some stories of how they lived without electricity. WHAT?! Who would believe the guy is 33. Sounds like a story out of the 1900s in America.

Well, all that to say, we had a pot of chrysanthemum tea at his great aunt's birthday and I thought to myself "Chrysanthemums? Isn't that what we have growing in the front yard?" I googled to find that the white or yellow flowers are used for tea, and my flowers were purple and red/orange. Did it really make that much of a difference? Are the lighter colored mums ok, and the darker ones poisinous? No idea, but I went to Home Depot last night in search of mums. There are so many varieties of white and yellow mums!!! AAARG!
White with yellow center, white with white center, white/yellow with no center, white/purple with a center/with no center. I resorted to tasting the petals of the flowers.
Tasted the white ones, Bleh. Tasted the Yellow ones, BLEAUGH.
The cute home depot guy comes over "can I help you miss?"::He sees me with petals sticking out of my mouth:: Uhmmm... yeah Uh. I'm looking for the mums you use to make tea?

Him: ........
Me: ....
Him: well..uh..
Me: Here Taste this.
Him: He actually eats it
Me: Tastes like flowers, right?
Him: Yeah.
::he shifty eyes like he's wondering if he's going to die::

I tasted quite a few flowers there last night, and out of them all, there was 1 that tasted the best. Unfortunately, it wasn't 1.99 Dangit ...it was like a 10.99 big pot.
And it was full of teeny white fluffly flowers that had a pollen middle.

I'll probably cave in and go buy it. Hopefully they'll have some kind of sale. I'd definitely plant it in the ground to have it come back as a perennial tea garden-next to my mint.

Will take a picture when I go get it!! I promise!

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