Permapotes

Chamomile

Chamomile: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

The name “chamomile” covers several aromatic plants in the Asteraceae family. The two main chamomiles used for herbal infusions are Roman chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, and German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla, also known as Matricaria recutita. They are separate species rather than varieties of one plant. Both have fine foliage and flower heads resembling small daisies, but their growth habits and life cycles differ.

German chamomile is an annual. It forms upright, branched stems with leaves finely divided into narrow segments, giving a light, airy appearance. Its flower heads have white rays around a yellow centre, with a receptacle that becomes conical and is hollow inside. After producing seeds, the plant completes its cycle. New self-sown seedlings do not make the original plant a perennial, even if chamomile reappears in the same area.

Roman chamomile is a perennial, generally lower and more spreading. Its stems can form a carpet of fine foliage with flowering stems above it. This creeping habit differs from German chamomile’s more upright outline. Both species are aromatic, with a fragrance often compared to apples, but their scent and the flavour of their flowers are not necessarily identical. Their shared name therefore does not describe one uniform plant.

What looks like a single flower is actually a head containing many small flowers. Outer flowers form the white rays, while central flowers make up the yellow disc. This arrangement is characteristic of the Asteraceae family. Single-flowered forms also offer interest for visiting insects and bring modest flowers to herb gardens. The yellow centre and white surround are parts of the same composite head.

Feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium, sometimes called a type of chamomile, is another species. Its leaves are broader and lobed. Similar-looking flower heads do not make these plants interchangeable. Botanical names distinguish the species behind common names that can be confusingly similar.

Ornamental selections show further differences. ‘Treneague’, a low Roman chamomile, does not flower and mainly forms a fragrant carpet, so it provides no flowers for tea. ‘Flore Pleno’ has double white flower heads. A selection intended as groundcover does not necessarily serve the same purpose as a plant grown for flowers.

Roman and German chamomile flowers are used fresh or dried for aromatic herbal infusions. They can also scent dried arrangements. In a garden, the Roman species’ carpet and the German species’ airy habit provide different forms for borders, herb areas and containers.

Chamomile
Chamomile
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Sensitive
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
  • Mature height : 40 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Sowing Depth : 1 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 25 cm
  • Row Spacing : 25 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Low
  • Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing