Chamomile is a delightful and aromatic herb that many gardeners love to include in their landscapes. It not only adds beauty with its dainty, daisy-like flowers, but it also has numerous health benefits and can be used in teas and other remedies. However, when it comes to the question of whether chamomile grows back every year, the answer depends on the specific type of chamomile you are referring to.
There are two main types of chamomile that are commonly grown: Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) and German chamomile (Matricaria recutita). Each of these chamomile varieties has a different growth habit, which affects whether or not they will come back year after year.
Let’s start with Roman chamomile. This particular variety is a perennial herb, meaning that it has the ability to come back each year. Once established in your garden, Roman chamomile will happily return year after year, providing you with its lovely flowers and soothing fragrance. As a perennial, it has a deep root system that allows it to survive the winter and regrow in the spring. This makes Roman chamomile a great choice if you’re looking for a long-term addition to your garden or landscape.
On the other hand, German chamomile is an annual herb. This means that it completes its life cycle within a single growing season and does not have the ability to come back on its own. German chamomile will grow, flower, and set seed during the summer months. Once it has finished flowering and the seeds have dispersed, the plant will naturally die back, leaving behind the potential for new seedlings to grow the following year. However, these seedlings will need to germinate and establish themselves in order to continue the chamomile’s presence in your garden.
It’s worth noting that despite being an annual, German chamomile can be quite prolific when it comes to self-seeding. If you allow the plant to go to seed and scatter its seeds, you may find that new chamomile plants pop up in unexpected places the following year. This can be a delightful surprise for some gardeners, but if you prefer to have more control over where your chamomile grows, you may need to collect and save the seeds or manually sow them in the desired locations.
In my own experience, I have found Roman chamomile to be a reliable and resilient herb that comes back faithfully each year. I have a small patch of Roman chamomile in my herb garden, and it has been a joy to see it return and flourish year after year. Its low-growing habit and delicate white flowers make it a charming addition to any garden.
While Roman chamomile will grow back every year as a perennial herb, German chamomile is an annual that will die back after flowering and rely on self-seeding for future generations. Both varieties have their own unique qualities and benefits, so it’s up to you to decide which type of chamomile fits best in your garden or landscape.
