A moment of intoxication with the scent of apples blooming from the fields full of flowers.
Misha: This time we’ll try growing German chamomile.
Hachibee: I’ve heard of chamomile as an herb before.
Misha: That’s right! Chamomile is an herb that gives off a sweet apple-like scent from the center of its flowers.
Hachibee: It smells like apples?
Misha: Chamomile tea made from chamomile flowers relieves tension and anxiety and makes you feel relaxed. The flowers bloom in abundance, so I’d love to harvest them and enjoy some tea.
German chamomile “almost weekly” cultivation report
9/17 Planting
Misha: Let’s try planting in the fall this time.
Hachibee: These are German chamomile seeds. They’re tiny, but have a pretty cute shape.
9/24 Germination
Hachibee: That’s fast! And there are a lot of them!
10/1 The buds grow
Hachibee: Chamomile grows so fast. It’s starting to look crunchy already!
10/8 Planting in the ground
Hachibee: So now we can plant it in the ground.
Misha: Chamomile has such a strong vitality.
10/15 The sprout takes root
Hachibee: I thought so, but the roots have already taken root. The leaves are standing tall and it looks healthy.
10/22 The leaves begin to grow
Hachibee: Oh! A leaf with a strange shape has come out!
10/29 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: So these are German chamomile leaves. The leaves are shaped like sparks, just like a sparkler!
11/5 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: It’s growing!
11/12 More leaves growing
Hachibee: That’s a lot of leaves! They’re starting to cover the ground.
Misha: The way the leaves are growing also makes them look full of life.
11/19 The grass grows taller
Hachibee: It’s gotten so tall. By the way, what I thought were leaves have turned into stems and are growing rapidly.
Misha: There are lots of stems growing outwards. It’s a bit of an unusual way.
11/26 The stem begins to grow
Hachibee: I noticed that the stem seems to have gotten a lot thicker.
12/3 Volume Up
Hachibee: The leaves are increasing from the base.
12/10 Leaves grow thick
Hachibee: It’s full of needle-like leaves, just like those of a coniferous tree.
Misha: It’s starting to get cold, but these leaves really look like coniferous leaves. They look like they can withstand the cold.
12/17 Preparations for winter begin
Hachibee: Oops! I suddenly noticed that the leaves were starting to stick to the ground!
Misha: They have now developed what we call rosette leaves. They will finally survive winter.
12/24 Wintering ~ Growth cessation
Hachibee: It’s finally hibernation (?) Merry Christmas.
12/31 The leaves are slightly withered
Hachibee: There are some leaves that are starting to turn a little yellow at the tips.
1/7 The leaves are slightly withered
Hachibee: Happy New Year! But it seems German Chamomile doesn’t have the luxury of being happy about it (laughs).
Misha: Even the leaves of these German chamomile plants, which look like they can withstand the cold, are probably suffering from this extreme cold.
1/14 Cold-resistant mode
Hachibee: There are more yellow leaves, but the ones here are the ones clinging to the ground the most and enduring the cold!
1/21 More dead leaves
Hachibee: There are a lot of yellow leaves now. I wonder if they can withstand this cold?
Misha: Right now is the coldest time of the year. We need to endure this and have the power to bloom in the spring.
1/28 Still cold-resistant
Hachibee: It seems like there are fewer leaves now…Is everything okay?
2/4 Cold resistance
Hachibee: Although some of the leaves have withered, the German chamomile is doing well!
2/11 Cold resistance
Hachibee: Oh, the leaves are bright red, like frostbitten hands.
Misha: It’s a cold that literally cuts the flesh, no, it cuts the leaves.
2/18 Still enduring the cold
Hachibee: A lot of the leaves are dying. It looks cold just looking at it!
2/25 Cold resistance
Hachibee: Red and brown, yellow and green. It’s very colorful.
Misha: But there are always green leaves, and you can tell they’re alive.
3/3 Cold resistance
Hachibee: It’s March now. I feel like the green leaves are starting to look a little healthier.
3/10 Cold resistance
Hachibee: Not yet.
Misha: The days have gotten a little warmer, but then the cold weather has come back, so it doesn’t seem like we’ll be waking up to spring just yet.
3/17 Cold resistance
Hachibee: I’m enduring, I’m enduring!
3/24 Growth resumes
Hachibee: Oh! There’s clearly been a change in the leaves!
Misha: It’s late March. It looks like things are finally starting to restart.
3/31 Leaf stalks begin to turn upwards
Hachibee: The ground turns green in no time!
4/7 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: Leaves are sprouting!
Misha: It feels like all the energy that was stored up during the winter is being released all at once.
4/14 The leaves begin to grow again
Hachibee: It’s so overgrown! It grew to this volume in no time.
Misha: It makes me wonder where all those leaves that were just about to wither and fall off have gone.
4/21 Buds form
Hachibee: That was fast!
Misha: And before I knew it, the stem had grown so tall. It’s so powerful that in just one month the plant has grown so tall and even produced buds.
4/28 Beginning to bloom
Hachibee: That was quick!!
Misha: And the grass is getting taller. Where did all this mass come from?!
5/5 Bloom
Hachibee: It’s blooming! And more and more buds are coming out!
Misha: It’s hard to believe it has grown at all in the winter. And the pure white is so beautiful.
5/12 Flowering begins one after another
Hachibee: Wow, they’ve all bloomed at once!
Misha: Chamomile blooms in such a large amount all at once that it’s really pleasant.
5/19 Full bloom
Hachibee: Chamomile flowers bloom in tight clusters. The sight of their two-tone yellow and white flowers filling the earth is so divine it’s hard to believe it’s from this world.
Misha: And when it rains, the chamomile petals fold up like an umbrella.
5/26 Flowers become overcrowded
Hachibee: There’s still more flowers to come!
Misha: They’re all packed in together and overlapping each other.
6/2 The petals start to fall
Hachibee: The white petals have begun to fall, signaling the end of the Spring Chamomile Festival.
6/9 The flower center remains
Hachibee: All the petals have fallen off, but the yellow center of the flower remains as if to say that it doesn’t matter.
6/16 Ball-shaped flower centers are formed one after another.
Hachibee: It looks like a floating yellow lollipop!
Misha: And it looks like the stems that were so tall and thick are now drooping, lowering these yellow flower centers closer to the ground.
6/23 The flower center is ripe.
Hachibee: And it seems like the center of the flower is gradually ripening, or rather, withering.
Misha: The seeds are finally starting to form inside the flower center.
6/30 Seeds start to fall from the flower center
Hachibee: The yellow center of the flower has finally disappeared and they’ve started falling onto the ground.
Misha: I see the seeds wrapped in a yellow veil. They are blown by the wind and fall one by one.
7/7 The stem begins to wither
Hachibee: It looks completely lifeless! It looks just like grass.
Misha: All those white and yellow flowers that bloomed and covered the ground, and those thick, tall stems. With the change of seasons, they all return to the earth.
7/14 Seed Harvesting
Hachibee: This time’s harvest!
Misha: The yellow flower center had turned into a lot of seeds. I think there will be even more flowers next year.
~Key points for growing German chamomile~
Cultivation difficulty：★☆☆☆☆
The seeds have excellent germination power,
turning the ground green,
their conifer-like leaves are tough,
enduring the coldest midwinter winds,
and the numerous flowers turn the ground white,
a robust flower that requires no care,
and the center of the flower has a mellow apple scent,
and is used as a herbal tea to soothe people’s hearts.
