Is Chamomile a Perennial? Two Plants, Two Answers

Both answers are correct, for different plants. Roman chamomile is a perennial. German chamomile is an annual that self-seeds so freely nobody notices.

Telling them apart

“Comes back” means two different things

Roman chamomile overwinters as a living plant. The mat persists, spreads outward from established roots, and gets wider every year. You can divide it, move it, and expect the same individual plants for years.

German chamomile dies completely after flowering. What returns is the next generation, germinating from seed dropped the previous summer. The patch persists; the plants do not.

That distinction has one practical consequence worth acting on:

• Let German chamomile set seed if you want it next year. Deadheading the whole plant ends the colony
• Deadhead Roman chamomile freely — it costs nothing, since the plant itself persists

Growing either one

Both want much the same conditions, which are not the rich moist conditions people often assume:

• Full sun — part shade at a push in hot regions
• Free-draining soil. Both dislike waterlogging, Roman particularly
• Poor to average fertility. Rich soil produces leafy plants with fewer flowers
• Light watering. Established plants are fairly drought-tolerant
• No feeding beyond a scrape of compost

German chamomile is sown direct in spring, barely covered — it needs light to germinate, so burying the seed is a common reason it fails. Roman chamomile is usually bought as plants or divisions, since ‘Treneague’ produces no seed at all.

The chamomile lawn, honestly

It is a genuinely lovely thing and a frequently disappointing one.

What it needs:

• Roman chamomile ‘Treneague’ — non-flowering, so no mowing
• Full sun
• Sharply drained soil
• Light traffic only
• Hand weeding, since nothing selective can be used on it

What it is not: a lawn substitute. It will not take children, dogs, football or a garden party, and it thins badly under repeated walking. A chamomile path, a seat, or a panel set within paving all work far better than a chamomile lawn, because each keeps the traffic occasional.

Harvesting for tea

German chamomile, almost always:

1. Pick flowers fully open, on a dry morning after the dew has gone
2. Pick often — the more you take, the more the plant produces
3. Dry on a tray somewhere warm, dark and airy for one to two weeks
4. Store airtight once completely dry and crisp
5. Expect a lot of picking. Dried flowers weigh very little, so a useful supply takes a substantial patch and repeated harvesting through the season