PlantFiles Pictures: Tea Bush, Tea Tree, Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), 1 by garygardener

garygardener wrote:
Hi Clare, jk

i dont know about the hardiness either, ita pretty common in Au but usually to - 6 celcius maybe..
Tea tree oil actually comes from a different plant, same family and similar looking....
Melaleuca alternifolia. That is the one used for commercial production in Australia and overseas, usually selected forms witha higher oil content.
We went to a plantation when on Hols in Northern NSW, very useful product!
This is a photo of my wife and babe at the Tea Tree maze
The plantation is called Thursday Island Tea Tree and may have a website, they had heaps of history and general info at the visitors centre there

Hope this is of interest
Gary