German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

German Chamomile is a beautiful, aromatic annual herb with delicate, feathery foliage and an abundance of small, daisy-like flowers with white petals and bright yellow centres. Best known for its soothing herbal tea, chamomile is also a wonderful addition to vegetable gardens, herb gardens and naturalized growing spaces.

The flowers have a pleasant, sweet, apple-like fragrance and are traditionally used to make calming herbal infusions, especially in the evening. Harvest the flower heads when fully open and dry them for year-round use. Chamomile flowers also attract pollinators and beneficial insects, including hoverflies and tiny parasitic wasps that help maintain a healthy garden ecosystem.

Although German Chamomile is an annual, it readily self-seeds when some flowers are allowed to mature. Once established, it can return year after year without needing to be replanted! Its light, airy growth also makes it an excellent companion among vegetables and other herbs.

Grow in full sun to partial shade in well-drained soil. Chamomile tolerates relatively poor soils and some drought once established, although regular moisture encourages abundant flowering. Plants generally reach 30–60 cm in height.

Direct sow outdoors in spring or fall, or start indoors 4–6 weeks before the last spring frost. The seeds germinate very quickly indoors! For outdoor sowing, scatter seeds on the soil surface and press them gently into place without covering, as they need light to germinate. Keep moist until established. German Chamomile can be grown in climates as cold as Zone 2, and fall sowing can give you earlier blooms the following spring, often by mid- to late June in our gardens.

At least 200 seeds per packet.