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Roman Chamomile
The perennial chamomile: a low, creeping, apple-scented mat hardy to about zone 4, grown as a fragrant groundcover and walkable lawn rather than for tea - and a genuinely different plant from the German chamomile in the teapot.
The flowers are a safe but noticeably bitter tea; most people grow this one for the fragrant mat rather than the cup. As a daisy-family plant it can trigger reactions in people highly allergic to ragweed and its relatives, and handling or kneeling on the foliage causes a contact rash in a few people. Do not use it as an eye wash. If you take warfarin or another anticoagulant, talk to your prescriber before drinking chamomile regularly - it may increase bleeding risk.
Overview
The one thing to knowRoman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is the other chamomile, and it is a different plant from the German chamomile sold as tea.
Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is the other chamomile, and it is a different plant from the German chamomile sold as tea. Where German chamomile is an upright annual that blooms hard, sets seed, and finishes at the end of the season, Roman chamomile is a low creeping perennial that returns from the crown every spring and spreads into a dense mat 3-6 inches high of finely cut, apple-scented foliage. It is hardy to about zone 4 and lives for years, widening a little each season.
People grow it for the carpet, not the cup: between stepping stones, along a path edge, over a bank, or as the classic English chamomile lawn that releases its sweet apple scent when you brush against it or walk across it. Its flowers are perfectly usable for tea but brew noticeably more bitter than German chamomile's, and the most popular lawn selection, 'Treneague', never flowers at all. If you want a crop for the teapot, grow German chamomile; if you want a fragrant living surface, this is the plant.
Quick facts
- Sprouts in
- 14 days7 to 21
- Soil to sprout
- 65 °F55 to 75
- Start indoors
- 8 weeks before transplant6 to 10
- Life cycle
- Perennial, lives about 4 years
- Seed to save
- About 120 days after planting100 to 150
- Height
- 6 in3 to 12
- Spread
- 18 in12 to 24
- Cold
- Takes hard frostdamaged below -20°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 85°F
- Self-sows
- Yes, expect volunteers
Full sun or part sun · medium water · well-drained soil · 8 in apart (4 to 12) · direct sow or transplant or cuttings or division
When to plant
Fall transplanting is open for 6 more days. Next: spring, Jan 30 to Feb 27.
- Transplant Aug 16 – Sep 27 Closes in 6 daysAbout 10 weeks before to 4 weeks before your first frost (Oct 25 here)Early fall planting also works where winters are mild, giving divisions a cool, moist season to root in before spring. Avoid it in cold zones - unrooted plants heave out over winter.
- Start indoors Jan 30 – Feb 27 Opens in 131 daysAbout 10 weeks before to 6 weeks before your last frost (Apr 10 here)Seed works for the plain species only: surface-sow under light 6-10 weeks ahead. The named forms, including the non-flowering lawn clone, cannot be grown from seed.
- Transplant Mar 27 – May 22 Opens in 187 daysAbout 2 weeks before to 6 weeks after your last frost (Apr 10 here)Set out plants, plugs, or divisions in spring - the usual way to start it. Space 6-8 inches apart for a groundcover, 4-6 inches for a lawn, into weed-free, free-draining ground.
Frost here: last around Apr 10 (Mar 27 to Apr 24 most years), first around Oct 25. Zone averages, your own yard may run a week or two either way.
Life stages
One stage to settle in, then four that repeat each year. Windows are typical; your zone and weather move them.
Establishing (year 1)
Day 0 to 150 after transplanting- WaterWater steadily while the mat knits togetherevery 4 daysKeep new plants evenly moist through the first season while they root in and spread - this is the one time Roman chamomile really needs watering. Once the mat has closed it gets by on far less, though it is not a hard drought plant like thyme.
- WeedHand-weed the gaps until the mat closesevery 2 weeksWeeds that root inside a chamomile mat are nearly impossible to remove later, and lawn weedkillers that spare grass will kill chamomile outright. Start with clean, weed-free ground and pull anything that appears in the gaps until the plants meet.
- ProtectKeep foot traffic off for the whole first seasonA chamomile lawn needs a full year to establish before it can take any walking at all. Rope it off or route around it the first season; walking on a young mat opens bare patches that fill with weeds rather than chamomile.
Watch for- Bare gaps between young plants filling with weeds
- Plants sulking or rotting in heavy, wet clay - it wants light, sharply drained soil
- Slow spread in year one (normal - it fills in properly in year two)
Spring regrowth
Mar to May, every year- WeedWeed the mat before it fills back inEarly spring, while the mat is still open, is the one easy moment to pull weeds out of a chamomile planting by hand. Do it now and the closing canopy keeps most of them out for the rest of the year.
- DoPlug any patches that thinned over winterLift and split rooted pieces from a dense part of the mat and press them into the bare spots; they knit in within a few weeks. Firm the surface first wherever winter freeze and thaw have heaved the crowns up out of the soil.
- FertilizeSkip the feeding - grow it leanRoman chamomile wants poor to average, well-drained soil. Feeding it produces soft, floppy growth that mats down, rots in the middle, and loses its scent, so leave the fertilizer for the vegetable beds.
Watch for- Crowns heaved out of the ground by winter freeze and thaw
- Winter losses in a wet, heavy spot (drainage, not cold, is usually the cause)
Bloom & flower harvest
Jun to Aug, every year- HarvestPick flowers fully open, petals flat or just curling backevery 4 daysOn flowering forms, pinch or comb off the little daisies when the white petals are horizontal or just beginning to reflex and the yellow centre is domed. Pick in the morning once the dew has dried, and expect a more bitter cup than German chamomile gives.
- InspectLet some bloom for the beesRoman chamomile in flower draws bees, hoverflies, and the small parasitic wasps that hunt aphids. On an ornamental mat there is no reason to pick every flower - leave a good share of them open.
- DoA lawn selection never flowers - that is normalnon-flowering onlyThe non-flowering lawn clone 'Treneague' is grown for its walkable, apple-scented carpet and does not bloom, so there is no flower harvest to wait for and nothing has gone wrong. Shear or mow it high instead, and take your tea flowers from German chamomile.
Watch for- Flowers browning and going over (past their prime for picking)
- No flowers at all on a lawn selection (expected, not a problem)
After bloom - shear and spread
Aug to Oct, every year- PruneShear the mat lightly once the main flush is overA light all-over trim takes off the spent flower stems and pushes fresh, dense growth. Hand shears, a trimmer on its highest setting, or a mower with the blades set high all work - never scalp it down to the crowns.
- DoDivide every two or three years to renew itRoman chamomile thins and goes woody in the centre as it ages. Lift a section in early autumn or spring, pull it into rooted pieces, and replant them about 6 inches apart - this is also how you make more plants for free.
Watch for- A thin, woody, bare centre with growth only around the edges (time to divide)
- Mat browning out in humid heat (it usually recovers as the nights cool)
Winter
Nov to Feb, every year- MulchSharp drainage matters more than cold protectionRoman chamomile takes hard cold but not a wet winter - sitting in cold, saturated soil rots the crowns. Make sure the ground drains, and in the coldest zones let snow cover or a light, airy mulch carry it through rather than a heavy wet blanket of leaves.
- DoStay off the frozen or sodden matWalking on a chamomile lawn while it is frozen, waterlogged, or dormant crushes the crowns and leaves bald patches that are slow to close. Keep off it through the winter and it comes back thicker in spring.
Watch for- Crown rot in wet winter ground (the main way an established mat is lost)
- Bald patches where the mat was walked on while frozen
Harvest
- Flowers fully open, white petals flat or just starting to curl back
- Yellow centre domed and apple-fragrant, before the petals fully reflex
- Nothing to pick at all on a non-flowering lawn selection - that is the type, not a failure
- Pick flowers fully open, petals flat or just curling back · every 4 days
- Let some bloom for the bees
- A lawn selection never flowers - that is normal
Per plant 1 to 10 ozPicking pick all season
Cook with Roman Chamomile
Watch out for
5 to know. 1 is high-risk: Root Rot. 3 are active in September.
Root RotSeverity High DiseaseCold, wet winter soil is the single most common way an established Roman chamomile mat is lost - far more often than cold itself.
Plant into light, sharply drained ground or raise the bed, never a low spot that puddles, and if the centre goes soft, take divisions from the firm outer edge and replant elsewhere.
Wilting in the middle of the day on a plant whose soil is damp - the classic tell, and the reason people water a rotting plant and finish it off. Leaves yellowing from the bottom up, dull off-color foliage, and growth that stalls for no visible reason. Whole shoots, or one side of the plant, collapsing while the rest still looks fine. Soft, dark, or mushy tissue at the base of the stem or at the crown, sometimes with a sour smell. Lift a failing plant and look at the roots: healthy ones are firm and pale, rotted ones are brown or black and slimy, and the outer layer slips off between your fingers leaving a thread of core behind. Seedlings that topple over at soil level are the same problem, called damping-off.
There is no cure for tissue that has already rotted, so act on the conditions rather than looking for a spray. Stop watering at once and fix the drainage - open up compacted soil, or move the plant to a raised, sharply drained position or a container. Lift a badly affected plant, cut away every soft dark root and rotted section with a clean blade back to firm pale tissue, and replant only the healthy parts into fresh free-draining soil or mix. Often the better move is to give up on the plant and save its offspring instead: cuttings, offsets, or divisions taken from firm healthy growth root readily and give you a clean start. Bin the rotted material rather than composting it, and correct the drainage before you replant, because the rot comes straight back in the same wet spot.
Drainage is the whole defense. Match the plant to the site first - something that wants sharp drainage will not survive heavy clay or a low, water-collecting spot however well you tend it. Where the ground is heavy, plant on a raised bed, berm, or slope, or grow in a container. Set plants at the depth they were already growing, since burying the crown or the root flare is a common cause of rot, and keep mulch pulled back a few inches from the stem base instead of piled against it. Water the soil rather than the calendar: check that the top inch or two is dry before watering again, cut back hard in cool weather and winter dormancy, and never leave a pot standing in a full saucer. Do not plant or dig in soggy ground, and go easy on rich amendments for plants that want it lean. Rotate annual crops, and start with clean healthy plants and fresh mix.
Root rot is not one organism but a group of soil fungi and water molds - Pythium, Phytophthora, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and others - that sit harmlessly in most soils and only turn destructive when the ground stays saturated. Waterlogged soil drives the air out, the roots suffocate, and the weakened tissue is invaded and goes soft, brown, and stringy. Because the damage is underground you usually see it first as something that looks like drought: wilting, yellowing, stunting, a plant that does not respond to being watered. Overwatering, heavy compacted ground, a low spot that collects runoff, a pot with no drainage or a saucer left standing full, and cold wet soil in winter are the usual causes. Once roots have actually rotted there is no cure - this is a problem you prevent rather than treat.
Lawn Wear & Bare PatchesSeverity Medium DisordernowThe most common disappointment with a chamomile lawn, and it is worth knowing before you plant: a fragrant surface for light use, not a replacement for grass.
Thin, flattened, or bald patches following the line people actually walk. Bare soil showing through a mat that used to be closed, with weeds germinating in the openings. Crowns crushed flat and slow to spring back after being stepped on. Damage that appears after the planting was used while wet, frozen, or newly planted. Wear concentrated at gateways, corners, and around seats and stepping stones, while the rest of the mat stays dense.
Take the traffic off the worn area first, or nothing else will hold. Loosen the surface, weed the openings by hand, then plug the bare patches with rooted pieces split from a dense part of the mat, firm them in and keep them watered until they knit - spring and early autumn are the best times for it. Never reach for a lawn weedkiller on the weeds that moved in: the selective products that spare grass kill chamomile just as thoroughly. If the same line wears bare every year, move the path rather than replanting it again.
Give a new planting a full season with no traffic at all before you walk on it. Site it where the walking is light and occasional rather than daily, and set stepping stones into the line people actually take so the chamomile grows around them instead of under them. Keep off it when the ground is wet, frozen, or in winter dormancy. Plant close - 4 to 6 inches apart for a lawn - into weed-free, free-draining ground so the mat closes quickly and stays dense, and shear or mow it high a few times a season to keep it thick. Above all, plan it as a small fragrant feature rather than a play surface.
A chamomile lawn is not a grass lawn. Roman chamomile takes light, occasional foot traffic - a path you cross, a seat you sit on, a bank you walk over now and then - but it does not tolerate the daily wear grass shrugs off, and the old saying that chamomile grows stronger the more it is trodden is charming rather than true. Concentrated traffic crushes the low crowns and shears the shallow roots; the mat thins, opens to bare soil, and weeds move into the gaps faster than the chamomile can close them. Damage is worst in the first year before the planting has knit together, on ground that is wet or frozen, and along the one line everybody actually walks. It is a wear problem rather than a disease, so nothing you spray will fix it.
Mat Thinning & Summer DiebackSeverity Medium DisordernowExpect to renew a Roman chamomile planting by division every few years.
It is routine maintenance for this plant, not a failure.
Browning, crisping, or a flattened slumped patch in the middle of an otherwise healthy mat during a humid heat wave. A ring of vigorous growth around the edges with a woody, sparse, bare centre - the classic sign of an ageing planting. Growth that no longer releases much apple scent when brushed. Patches that stay dark and wet for days after rain. Soft, floppy, thin growth in shade or in soil that has been fed.
Shear the affected area back and let it regrow; a mat cut over in late summer usually comes back clean once the nights cool. Rake out the dead material so light and air reach the crowns. Where the centre has gone woody and bare, lift the whole planting, pull it apart, discard the old woody core, and replant the vigorous rooted pieces about 6 inches apart into loosened soil - a renewed mat closes again in one season. Improve the drainage before replanting if the patch stayed wet.
Grow it lean, sunny, and sharply drained - poor to average soil, full sun to light shade, and ground that never puddles. Skip the fertilizer, since feeding produces soft growth that mats down and rots from the middle. Shear the planting after bloom so air moves through it rather than letting the growth pile up. Divide every two or three years, before the centre goes woody, replanting the young rooted pieces taken from the outer edge. In humid climates give it an open position with air movement, and water in the morning at soil level rather than over the top of the mat.
An established Roman chamomile mat thins for two ordinary reasons, neither of them an infection. In hot, humid summers the dense low canopy holds moisture against the ground, the interior browns out, and patches go crisp or slumped until cooler nights let it recover. And with age the planting simply runs outward: the crowns at the centre grow woody and sparse while the vigorous growth moves to the edges, so a mat that was solid in year two can look bald in the middle by year four. Both look alarming and neither needs a spray. What turns them into real losses is rich soil, heavy shade, or ground that stays wet, all of which keep the interior soft and slow to recover.
Powdery MildewSeverity Low DiseasenowA dense, unsheared mat in still, humid late-summer air is what mildews.
Shear the patch back so air moves through it and the regrowth comes clean; dividing an overgrown planting prevents a repeat.
Round white powdery spots on the upper leaf surfaces that spread and merge until whole leaves look dusted. It usually starts on the oldest, lowest, most shaded leaves and works upward, so check there first. Look at the undersides too, and at stems, buds, and flower stalks, which get coated as it advances. Leaves that yellow, brown, curl, or go crisp and drop early under the coating. New growth that opens small, crumpled, or twisted where the fungus has reached the shoot tips. On plants where it gets onto the fruit, a dull gray film, russeted or scarred skin, and cracking. Late in the season, tiny dark specks scattered through the white felt - that is the fungus setting up to overwinter on the debris.
Start early: sprays protect healthy tissue, they do not clean up leaves that are already coated. Pick off and bin the worst leaves as soon as you see them, and open the plant up by thinning or pruning so air moves through. On anything that regrows quickly, shearing the whole plant back forces a clean flush and beats spraying. If it keeps spreading, potassium bicarbonate, horticultural oil, or neem applied weekly will hold it - cover both leaf surfaces. Sulfur also works, but it burns the foliage of some plants, should never go on in heat, and must not be mixed with or applied close behind an oil spray. Whatever you use must be labeled for the plant you are treating: follow that label and observe its pre-harvest interval on anything you eat. Do not compost badly infected material. Late-season mildew on a plant that is finishing anyway is usually cosmetic; on a crop still filling out it is worth acting on.
Give plants room. Crowding and still air are the biggest single driver, so space at the full recommended distance, thin seedlings properly, and divide or prune out congested growth until air moves through the plant. Full sun and an open position help; deep shade and a still corner against a wall are where it always starts. Water at the base rather than overhead, and water early in the day so nothing stays damp overnight. Keep plants evenly watered - drought stress at the roots leaves them far more susceptible, even though the fungus itself likes dry air. Go easy on nitrogen, since soft lush growth is the most vulnerable. Where resistant varieties exist for what you are growing, choosing one is the single most effective thing you can do on a plant that mildews every year. Clear infected leaves and stems away at the end of the season rather than composting them.
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that coats leaves - and often stems, buds, and fruit - in a white-to-gray powder that looks like spilled talcum. It is not one fungus but a large family of them, each fairly specialised to its own group of plants, which is why mildew on one crop rarely jumps to an unrelated one beside it. Unlike most leaf diseases it does not need wet leaves: it thrives on warm dry days followed by humid nights, and it takes hold fastest where plants stand crowded in still air or in shade. The coating blocks light, so heavily covered leaves yellow, brown, and drop early. On many plants that is mostly disfiguring and arrives late enough not to matter; where it strips away the leaves a crop still needed to finish, it costs you size, sweetness, and quality.
AphidsSeverity Low PestThey gather on the soft spring flush and on flower stems, and a mat this dense hides them - part the foliage to check.
A light shear plus the hoverflies and lacewings that the open flowers recruit usually settles it without any spray.
Dense clusters of tiny insects packed onto shoot tips, flower buds, and the undersides of young leaves. Curled, cupped, or distorted new growth that never opens properly. A sticky shine on the leaves - and on whatever sits under the plant - that later goes black with sooty mold. Tiny white cast skins left behind where a colony has been feeding. Ants running steadily up and down the stems, which is often the first thing you notice. Mottled, streaked, or misshapen leaves that do not grow out can mean a virus the aphids brought with them rather than the feeding itself.
Knock the colonies off with a hard jet of water and repeat every few days - on most plants that alone ends it. Pinch out or prune off the worst-infested tips rather than treating the whole plant. If colonies keep rebuilding, spray insecticidal soap or horticultural oil directly onto the insects, covering leaf undersides, and repeat weekly until they are gone; treat early or late in the day, and never spray a wilted or heat-stressed plant. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides - they kill the ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps that were about to solve the problem for you, and aphid numbers usually come back worse afterward. Anything you spray must be labeled for the plant you are treating; follow that label and observe its pre-harvest interval. On anything you eat, wash leaves, heads, and buds well before use, since aphids hide down in crowns, folds, and tight growth.
Go easy on nitrogen: the soft, lush growth that heavy feeding produces is exactly what aphids breed on. Check new growth once a week through spring and early summer so you catch colonies while they are still small, and rub the first few out with your fingers. Leave flowering plants nearby and skip broad-spectrum sprays - ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps do most of this work for free, and they only stay if there is something for them to eat. Keep ants off the plant where you can, since they protect aphids from those predators. Water steadily so plants are not stressed, and check any new plant over before you bring it home or move it indoors, since aphids usually arrive on something else.
Aphids are small soft-bodied sap-suckers - green, black, gray, pink, or waxy white, and mostly wingless - that gather in dense colonies on the tenderest new growth: shoot tips, buds, and the undersides of young leaves. They breed extremely fast in mild weather, so a few can become hundreds inside a week. Their feeding curls and distorts soft growth, and the sticky honeydew they excrete coats everything below and turns black with sooty mold. Ants often farm and defend the colonies for that honeydew. A few aphids are normal on almost any plant and a healthy plant shrugs them off; only dense, persistent colonies do real damage, and some aphids also spread plant viruses as they feed.
Good & bad neighbors
Plant nearby
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Different plants, routinely sold under one name. The chamomile of the teapot is German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), an upright annual grown for its sweeter flowers; this page is the creeping perennial Chamaemelum nobile grown for its mat. They share a scent, a family, and a common name but not a lifecycle, so read a seed packet or plant label twice. Many gardeners grow both: German in the herb bed for tea, Roman along the path.
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The natural partner in a scented path or paving planting - creeping thyme wants the same full sun and sharp drainage and takes about the same light foot traffic, and the two mats look and smell good side by side.
- Traditional pairings, thin evidence
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Shares the lean, sunny, well-drained conditions, and the low chamomile mat sets off lavender's mound nicely at a path edge. Both are strong pollinator draws.
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A good neighbour in gravel gardens, rock plantings, and the gaps between paving, where both want lean, sharply drained ground and neither crowds the other out.
Keep apart
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Mint runs straight through a low mat and smothers it. Keep mint in a container or a bed of its own well away from any chamomile planting you care about.
Varieties · 3
You pick one when you add Roman Chamomile to your garden. Its days to maturity set your harvest window.
Flowering forms (mat plus flowers) 2 varieties
Roman Chamomile (species)
Low spreading mat of feathery bright green leaves, topped in early summer with small white-and-gold daisies on short stems.
groundcoverpollinatorteaself-seedingThe straight species (Chamaemelum nobile): a low creeping perennial mat 3-6 inches high, spreading to a foot or more, with finely cut apple-scented foliage and small white daisies on short stems in early summer. Hardy to about zone 4, grown as a fragrant groundcover, path edging, and pollinator plant. Its flowers can be dried for tea but brew more bitter than German chamomile. The only form that comes reliably from seed.
Flore Pleno
Creeping perennial mat topped with rounded, fully double creamy-white pompom flowers on short stems.
double-flowergroundcoverornamentalThe double-flowered Roman chamomile: the same creeping aromatic mat, topped with rounded, fully double creamy-white pompoms instead of single daisies. Grown as an ornamental groundcover for borders, path edges, and gaps between paving, where the flowers read as little buttons above the foliage. Grown for looks and scent rather than for tea, and propagated by division or cuttings rather than seed.
Non-flowering lawn type 1 variety
Treneague
Very low, dense, bright green non-flowering carpet of finely divided aromatic foliage.
lawngroundcoverwalkableThe classic chamomile-lawn clone: a dense, very low, aromatic mat that never flowers, so it stays flat and tidy underfoot and releases its apple scent when walked on. This is the selection meant when someone says chamomile lawn. It sets no seed and exists only as divisions and cuttings, so it costs more than a seed packet - and it gives you no flower harvest at all, which is the point rather than a fault. Plant plugs 4-6 inches apart into weed-free ground and keep off it the first season.
Grower tips
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