Strawberries and Chamomile

It never ceases to amaze me how new plants seem so impervious to the winter. Really small plants seem to have the ability to thrive under the snow. These German chamomile plants were tiny in the fall. The strawberries were starts from runners in the bed next door. There they are green and beautiful while the older more established strawberry plants need trimming and tending.

If you have never had chamomile tea from fresh flowers or from newly dried ones, you are missing out. The flower heads have a wonderful aroma, and the tea is very relaxing. German chamomile is my favorite. It can be distinguished from the others by its hollow receptacle. Since it is a self seeding annual, it comes up where it was planted the year before. If I want to relocate it, I cut some of the plants with seed heads, and lay them on ground that has been prepared so that they will self seed there. The seeds are like dust. I still remember my first packet of chamomile seeds. At first I thought the packet was empty. This is one of those plants that start most easily with fresh seed heads from a friend.