German chamomile

German chamomile: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright, much-branched annual herb 20–40 cm tall and about 20 cm wide.

Leaves

Finely divided, two to three times pinnate, with thread-like segments; fresh green.

Flower

Flower heads 1.5–2.5 cm across with white ray florets around a yellow centre, from May to August. Later the white rays fold downwards.

Flower centre

Cone-shaped and hollow inside: this is how you recognise true chamomile.

Scent

Sweet and apple-like, especially when you crush the flower heads.

Flowering: May–August · Harvest and fruit: June–August · Sowing: March–May and September

Why grow it?

• Make your own chamomile tea: a handful of plants gives a good supply of dried flowers.
• Flowers for four months, from May to August, attracting bees and hoverflies.
• Native: perfect for a wildlife garden or a strip of cornfield flowers.
• A lovely apple scent in the border and the vegetable garden.
• Easy: sow it directly and it will often self-seed afterwards.

German chamomile: where does it grow best?

• Full sun: in shade the plants become floppy and flower poorly.
• Any well-drained soil: sand, loam or clay, slightly acid to chalky. Poor soil is no problem.
• Dry to normally moist; it dislikes wet soil.
• Sow in rows 20–25 cm apart or broadcast, and thin to 15–20 cm between plants.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

0.4 m tall, 0.2 m wide

Hardiness

Half hardy (to -10 °C): protect it in harsh winters

Goes well with

• Cornflower: Blue flowers beside the white: together a classic cornfield mix.
• Field poppy: Red among the white and yellow, in the same sunny, poor spot.
• Pot marigold: Orange colour and just as easy to sow in the vegetable garden.
• Borage: Blue flowers for bees, for the same sunny spot.

German chamomile: when and how to plant it?

1. Sow in March–May or September directly where the plant is to flower; there is no need to transplant.
2. Rake the soil to a fine, weed-free, level tilth.
3. Scatter the fine seed thinly; mixing it with a little sand helps you spread it evenly.
4. Just press the seed down and do not cover it: it needs light to germinate.
5. Keep the soil moist with a fine rose until the seedlings appear, usually after 1–2 weeks.
6. Thin the seedlings to 15–20 cm apart when they are a few centimetres tall.

Care

Watering

Water only young seedlings in dry spells. After that it copes well with dry weather.

Feeding

Not needed: on rich soil the plants become soft and flop over.

Harvesting

Pick the flower heads when they have just opened and the white rays are still horizontal, ideally on a dry, sunny morning.

Drying

Spread the heads out on paper or a rack in an airy, shady place. Store them fully dry in a closed jar or tin, in the dark.

Self-seeding

At the end of summer, let a few plants set seed if you want chamomile again next year.

Tip: Pick the flower heads on a dry morning, as soon as they have just opened, and dry them quickly in a shady, airy place. That way they keep the most aroma.

German chamomile: when to prune it?

When: German chamomile is not pruned. Picking it regularly keeps it flowering for longer.

How:

• Pick the flower heads regularly: the plant then forms new buds.
• Pull up the plants after flowering and put them on the compost heap.
• If you want it to self-seed, leave a few plants until the seed is ripe.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Sow in situ in March–May or September. Press the seed in without covering it; it germinates in 1–2 weeks.

Self-seeding

Let a few plants finish flowering: the seed drops and produces new plants in autumn or the following spring.

German chamomile: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −10 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Annual: the plant dies after flowering and setting seed.
• Seedlings from a September sowing overwinter as small rosettes and tolerate frost to about −10 °C.
• After an autumn sowing the plants flower earlier, often from May.
• In a severe winter young plants may be killed: sow again in March.

Diseases and pests

• Aphids: On stems and buds, especially in a dry spring. Hose them off; ladybirds and hoverflies usually deal with them.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves, mainly in late summer. Harvest the last flowers and clear the plants.
• Slugs: They eat young seedlings. Pick them off in the evening or protect the young plants.
• Scentless mayweed: Looks very similar but does not smell of apple and has a solid flower centre. Cut a flower head in half lengthways to check.

Through the year

• March: Sow in situ. Just press the seed down.
• April: Sowing. Thin autumn-sown seedlings.
• May: Sowing. First flowers. Thin to 15–20 cm.
• June: Flowering. Pick and dry the flower heads.
• July: Flowering. Pick regularly.
• August: Last flowers. Let a few plants self-seed.
• September: Sow for flowers next spring. Clear spent plants.
• October: Young rosettes overwinter.

Edible and useful

Flowers (June–August)

Pick the flower heads from June to August on a dry, sunny day, when the white ray florets are horizontal or starting to fold back. Pinch them off with your fingers or use a chamomile comb. True chamomile is recognised by its hollow, cone-shaped receptacle (cut a head in half) and its typical sweet scent. For tea, a steam bath or a rinse.

Storing

Spread the heads in a thin layer on a rack or on paper, somewhere airy and warm out of the sun, and turn them now and then. After one to two weeks they are bone dry. Keep them in a closed jar in the dark for up to a year.

Caution: People allergic to the daisy family (such as ragweed, mugwort, arnica or marigold) may also react to chamomile, with a rash or breathing problems. Do not confuse true chamomile with scentless mayweed or stinking chamomile: they have a solid receptacle and smell of nothing or unpleasant. Do not pick at the edge of sprayed fields. Chamomile tea is not a medicine: if symptoms persist, see a doctor.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Chamomile tea (Tea · 1 cup · 10 min)
• Chamomile facial steam (Skin and body care · 1 session · 15 min)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The name chamomile comes from the Greek chamaimelon, ‘earth apple’, after its apple-like scent.
• You can recognise true chamomile by its hollow, cone-shaped flower centre: cut a flower head in half lengthways.
• Roman chamomile, used for scented chamomile lawns, is a different species: a low-growing perennial.