I murdered my roman chamomile

Seriously. It was thriving and now it’s dead, what the heck, nature?!? Was it the heat of Japan? Did I overwater? WHhhyyyyyyy?!?

Roman chamomile, Anthemis nobilis, is one of those extremely handy flowering herbs in the daisy family that normally makes a great addition to any kitchen. The flowers make a soothing, calming subtly flavored tea and you can use it to soothe skin irritations, random summer rashes, as well as soothing personal agitation.

I personally find roman chamomile to be supremely helpful on my children as an essential oil, diluted to about a 2% ratio in avocado oil or fractionated coconut oil. Its calming to body and mind. But, unfortunately, I have a black thumb when it comes to growing my roman chamomile plants in my own urban garden this season.

Random fact: skilled artisans use a process of steam distillation to extract essential oil from roman chamomile flowers in the month of July, in Hungary, France, and England. Apparently it’s also grown in Chile. (1)

Interestingly, the scent of a good quality roman chamomile essential oil reminds me of sweet fresh apples just picked on my mother’s property as a child. My last home made tea from the dried blossoms smelled sweetly, too. Looks like I'll be buying my roman chamomile from some tea vendor or essential oil distributor this year since I failed.

Time to research new vendors for tea and possibly the essential oil, stay tuned for updates and my discoveries!

And: RIP, Romie! RIP.

Resources:

(1) Holmes, Peter. Aromatica: A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics, Volume I. Singing Dragon, 2016

#romanchamomile #urbangarden #garden