Chamomile: A Fragrant Flower for Everything
Chamomile is one of our oldest and dearest herbal friends in the medicine chest. Who of us hasn’t had a cup of chamomile tea to soothe our jittery nerves, relax our anxiety and help ease us into sleep? It is probably the most widely used relaxing herb used in the Western world, prescribed by every mom, grandparent and friend to help us with virtually every ailment. When I was growing up my Spanish mother and grandmother gave us kids chamomile tea (called manzanilla, or ‘little apple’ in Spanish because of its fragrant leaves and flowers) for everything. Flu, whining, overactivity, colds, fighting, rashes, cuts, menstrual pain, diarrhea - whatever, chamomile tea was the answer.
Chamomile is actually two plants that grow very differently and are used differently. The most common form of this plant is an annual plant is the Asteraceae or daisy family, with the botanical name Matricaria recutita. The common name is German chamomile, and it is a tall growing somewhat delicate looking plant with feathery foliage and small daisy like flowers with white ray petals and yellow center disks. The flowers and foliage are scented of apples. The flowers of German chamomile have a hollow center at the base of the disk, which is the best and easiest way to determine you are gathering that plant and not a look alike, of which there are many. The plant can grow one to three feet tall and prefers sunny warm locations with well drained soil. The flowers are the part of the plant that are used for teas, medicine making and cooking. The flavor is somewhat sweet, although as the tea is steeped for longer periods the bitterness comes through. The plant completes its life cycle in one season. If you harvest the flowers daily for tea making the bloom season can continue over a longer period, and if you leave a few flowers to go to seed it is easy to use successional seeding to continue bloom from spring through fall. Because the flowers are small, you will need to harvest quite a few to gather enough flowers for serious tea making, but the quality of home grown chamomile is so amazing it is worth the work. Fresh flowers can be air dried or dried in a dehydrator at a very low heat to maintain the essential oil in the flowers. They should be kept in a glass jar in the dark, since they will quickly lose their potency in a paper or plastic bag.
A second form of the plant commonly called chamomile is Chamaemelum nobile, or Roman chamomile. Roman chamomile is also a member of the Asteraceae, or daisy family, but is a low growing perennial groundcover. Roman chamomile can grow from seed but also grows easily from rhizomes, spreading quickly into a low growing, mat forming groundcover in afternoon shady locations. Roman chamomile flowers have white ray petals with yellow center disks. If you cut open the flowers in half, the centers will be pithy, or solid. The foliage and flowers will smell like apples, making it a wonderful choice for a fragrant groundcover. Although you can use the flowers for tea making, Roman chamomile is less commonly used. It is a fun shade loving groundcover that can stand some foot traffic.
The easiest way to use chamomile is as a tea, and it can be used for a hundred and one reasons. Stress reduction and to gently aid in sleep are the most commonly considered reasons to drink chamomile, but to promote good digestion, to aid in breaking a fever, to reduce a dry cough, decrease cramps and muscle tension, and to calm inflammation are just a few other reasons to drink chamomile tea. If you aren’t a tea drinker however, you can also enjoy chamomile as a tincture in either glycerin or alchohol, externally as a lotion or infused oil, or as a soap or soak for the bath.
Cooking with chamomile can add an interesting floral and slightly bitter flavor to desserts, salads and meats. Chamomile in desserts where it can be infused in milk, such as ice cream, rice puddings, glazes and puddings. Chamomile infused in honey and used not just to sweeten tea but also for baking cookies, cakes and pies adds a complex floral flavor. And chamomile has become quite the rage for cocktails and mocktails, with chamomile bitters used to change up citrus beverages such as palomas and lemon drops.
Chamomile is the Herb of the Year for 2025. At our 30th annual Open House on Saturday, May 3rd all Mother’s will receive a free German chamomile plant!