In the picture below you can find creeping caraway thyme (Thymus herba-barona) in full bloom. Next to the thyme is a dwarf hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis var decumbens ‘Nana’) that is just about ready to begin flowering. When the hyssop does flower it sends up spikes of a gorgeous deep blue and is just covered in them.

Behind the dwarf hyssop one will find a clump of variegated oregano (Origanum majorana ‘Variegata’). I am not the biggest fan of variegated plants. In fact they really have to be something for me to consider them. This variety of oregano is fantastic in my opinion. Not only is it very pretty with its golden foliage but it is also more well behaved than your common oregano. I have found that oregano can tend to be a little unruly in the garden if it is not contained. I learned this the hard way years ago as my oregano decided to take over the entire herb bed. These days I keep it happy in a nice container all to itself. This variegated oregano however is now three years old and still maintaining this tidy size. The leaves are also edible and not quite as strong as your typical oregano.

Another tidbit of news from the herb garden right now is the German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is once again bursting forth with apple scented blooms. I started a few seeds of chamomile three years ago and now the rest is history. As long as a little bit of chamomile is allowed to go to seed each year I will never have to plant it again. It is a very prolific self-sower and volunteers can and will come up everywhere. I actually love this as it is such a pretty little flower that is also very useful. Chamomile can be pulled up very easily too just in case it happens to come up in an area I do not want it to grow. This year I am using it as a filler plant in the vegetable garden. Chamomile will set its flowers and go to seed rather quickly no matter how much you harvest it’s sweetly scented blooms. By midsummer I yank the spent plants that are starting to be crowded out by other garden neighbors.  This is what I am doing with the Tomatillos I am growing this year. All around them you will find chamomile beginning to bloom. Once the tomatillos start to get large it will be time to send the chamomile to the compost heap (which happens to have chamomile sprouting all around it).

With this much chamomile in bloom right now you will find me out every morning after the dew has dried plucking the white daisy-like flowers and dropping them into my colander. I like to collect the blooms in my colander because the little holes give an escape route for the little critters that also find the blooms so enticing. Chamomile in bloom does an amazing job of attracting beneficial insects to the garden.

Once I have gathered all I can (or all a two year old little girl will let me) I bring the flowers inside to dry. I have mentioned on here more than once that my preferred method for drying herbs is in the oven with just the light on. I have found chamomile retains it’s lovely scent very nicely this way.

The herb garden is my absolute favorite spot in the entire garden. I just love how useful as well as beautiful herbs can be. I think the combination at the beginning of today’s post does a good job showing just how pretty a herb garden can be. I just cannot stop looking at that combination! Are there any combinations in your garden right now that you cannot take your eyes from?

All photos from this post can be clicked on to enlarge.

Two years ago when we first put in a garden here I grew some chamomile from seed. That year I purposely let some go to seed in hopes of seeing it again the following year. Of course it did return as chamomile is so prolific at self sowing.

Last year I also let it go to seed and it is once again back and ready to be harvested. I don’t mind it self sowing as it is pretty easy to pull up when the seedlings are little if too many manage to germinate. Plus they are pretty easy to identify when they are coming up.

They are great at drawing beneficial insects. On a warm day I am amazed at how many little insects are buzzing and hopping around the chamomile flowers. It seems they like it as much as me!

I love the scent of chamomile and all of its medicinal properties. Although, I am not too keen on the flavor of just chamomile tea I do enjoy it mixed in with other herbs. I especially like it blended with catnip for a relaxing bedtime tea. Both are good at calming the nerves.

As much as I love to use the flowers and see them growing in my garden I really do not like harvesting them. It can be rather tedious to say the least. I go out in the morning once the dew is dry and hand pluck the flowers that are ready. It can take a long time to fill my basket that way. There is a tool that one uses to harvest blueberries that I know can also be used on the chamomile flowers. It is sort of like a rake that you run through the plant and it plucks the flowers for you. I have been eyeing one for awhile now but can never justify the cost. But when I go out to harvest some flowers I always ask myself why don’t I just break down and buy it!

Once I gather the flowers I let them dry completely before storing them in a glass jar. My favorite way to dry them is to lay them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and place them in the oven with the oven light on. The oven light gives off enough heat to dry them within a few days and still retain their color and lovely scent.

The first picture at top shows how many flowers I am going to need to go out and harvest once the rain lets up some. The below picture shows how much I have been able to gather and dry so far this year.