MOST people know that tea is the nation's favourite drink - more than 165m cups are consumed in the UK every day. But what isn't so well known, is the fact that you can grow your own tea here in Dorset.

For contrary to popular belief, tea plants don't require heat and humidity to thrive, rather preferring temperate regions with plenty of moisture.

Simon Greenfield who co-owns Trehane Nursery near Wimborne, sells as many as a hundred tea plants every season.

"We tend to think of tea being grown in hot places like China and India, but they're grown at altitude in those places because the plants actually prefer cooler, wetter conditions so the UK has the perfect climate," he explains.

Simon took over the five acre nursery from owner David Trehane in May 2015, along with Lorraine Keets. Both have worked at the nursery for many years and are specialists in growing camellias.

"We grow 200 different varieties of camellia including camellia sinensis which many people don't know is the common tea plant which can be grown in their back gardens quite successfully."

Simon says he has a seen a spike in sales of camellia sinensis plants in recent years as domestic gardeners cotton on to the possibilities of home-grown tea.

But the last few months have been the busiest ever after celebrity horticulturalist James Wong revealed on Radio 4 that he has a mini tea plantation at his home in Surrey and that the plants were supplied by the Tehane Nursery in Dorset.

"It all went a bit crazy for a while,” laughs Simon. “We are still restocking as we sold more tea plants in two weeks than we had expected to sell in this whole year."

Although Simon makes his own green tea he says the process for making black tea is a little more involved..

"You can pick a few leaves, allow them to wilt before drying them and that will make you a cup of green tea. The process with black tea is a little more involved and involves some crushing and fermentation. Although it is a relatively simple process, it is quite fiddly so you need to be fairly dedicated to want to try doing it.

"But the tea plant is quite attractive to look at. It has nice scented white flowers in the autumn, so if you don't want to make tea from it, it will look lovely in your garden."

A plant costs as little as £16.50 and is hardy enough to survive the British winter, guaranteeing an endless supply of leaves if looked after properly. Each plant includes instructions on how to make tea from its leaves.

Trehane Nursery has been at the forefront of camellias in the UK since the 1950s.

The Trehane family has been associated with both camellias and blueberries for three generations, since market gardener David Trehane reclaimed six acres of swamp and woodland in the 1940s and 1950s in order to trial the blueberry plants that he had newly acquired from Canada.

Once it was shown that the plants would grow successfully the nursery was established to produce new stock, and was then expanded to include camellias, recognising that they would flourish under the same acidic soil conditions as blueberries.

Now into its second half-century, the nursery continues with its philosophy of offering the widest possible range of top quality plants and introducing the best of the latest camellia varieties from around the world.

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT BREW

1. Empty the kettle of any previously boiled water and fill with fresh water. Bring the kettle to the boil.

2. Warm a clean teapot with a little of the water just before it reaches boiling point, then swirl around and pour away.

3. Use tea leaves rather than bags for a fresh flavoured tea the type you use is up to you. Allow 1 teaspoon per person, plus one for the pot. Make sure the pot you're using has plenty of space for the tea to brew in the water.

4. Pour in the water as soon as it boils, taking the pot to the kettle so the water doesn't have a chance to cool down.

5. Cover the pot with a tea cosy and leave the tea to infuse for 3-4 minutes. Any longer and you'll ruin the true flavour of the tea, making it taste bitter.

6. When you're ready, pour the tea through a tea strainer (unless there's a mesh attached to your teapot) into clean mugs or cups and saucers.

7. When you add the milk depends on whether you're a MIF (milk-in-first) or TIF (tea-in-first) person, or maybe you prefer it black, with sugar, a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint.