All the Dirt on Gardening

There are over 100 varieties of Anthemis , and, although gardeners may be unaware of them, they probably have them growing someplace.   The tiny, wild variety hugs the ground in the summer and the tall, perennial varieties grow into shrubs. Commonly, they are called Chamomile. Though some are perennials (return from roots) and others are annuals (planted from seed) they are easily started from seed or cuttings. They are rarely bothered by disease but are often covered with pollinating insects. Their name Chamomile comes from Greek words chamos and milos, meaning a low-growing shrub that smells like apples.   The varieties used as medicine are English (Anthemis nobilis) and German (Matricaria chamomilla, also called M. recutita ). Dried Anthemis flowers are used for tea, potpourri, flower arrangements, shampoo, cosmetics, etc. Plant World Seeds Anthemis tinctoria, Golden Chamomile, is often packaged in seed collections for wildflower gardens, pollinator b...

Oxeye Chamomile came to live in our garden several years ago when I saw a packet of seeds called something like pollinators favorites. Being a big fan of pollinators, I ordered.  Anthemis tinctoria foliage - stems and leaves  This lovely flower (weed?) is the only plant from that collection that re-seeds and returns every year.  The MissouriPlants website has not been updated since 2007 but still remains a great resource since each year I go back to it to find the name of something or another. The site is conveniently organized by flower color and leaf form, making it invaluable to those of us who have too many plant names in our heads to pull out just one at a time. It tells me that my yellow flower with lacy leaves is Anthemis tinctoria and more than I'll enter here - Family - Asteraceae Stems - To +1m tall, erect, herbaceous, multiple from base, branching above, sub-tomentose, producing stolons. Vascular tissue of stem appearing as parallel vertical l...

Last spring I planted a pack of Fedco Seeds Beneficials Mix in the vegetable garden. The package was said to contain: alyssum, bachelor button, borage, gem marigold, dill, fennel, Phacelia tanacetifolia or fiddleneck, caraway, parsley, golden marguerite, ajuga, basket of gold alyssum, and Rocky Mountain penstemon. Indeed dill, parsley, basket of gold alyssum and a couple of others came up. The entire planting took over a bushel basket sized area but brought the pollinators for our veggies and we were happy with that. One took over and it's photo is here Russell Studebaker, Sharon Owen and I exchanged a few emails and decided that it's Golden Marguerite or Anthemis tinctoria. In the spirit of trust and verify, I checked Cal Berkeley's plant site and here it is - Anthemis tinctoria . The Missouri Plants website has lovely photos and information on it here . They say it is one of the chamomiles grown to make tea. Plants for a Future says it is also used as a dye. NEXT Anyone...