Chamomile

German chamomile is one of the most useful plants in the cutting garden and the tea cupboard: small white daisies with domed golden centres on fine, ferny stems, 12 to 24 inches tall, with an apple-honey scent that carries through an arrangement. The dried flower heads are the chamomile of tea. It is fast, generous, and self-seeds so reliably that once you grow it, it finds its own way back each year.

Direct sow in earliest spring, pressing the seed onto the surface, since it needs light and germinates in cool soil and takes frost without complaint; thin to 6 to 9 inches. Like cosmos it flowers better in poor, well-drained soil in full sun; too much fertility gives lush growth and fewer blooms. Cut regularly to keep it producing, and sow again in early summer for a late flush.

For tea, pick the heads when the petals have just begun to reflex, in the morning after the dew dries, and dry them quickly in a warm, airy place. Hoverflies, small bees and parasitic wasps work the flowers, which makes it a good companion in the vegetable garden. Let a few heads seed for next year. Deer leave it alone. Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is the perennial lawn chamomile, a different plant.