With the weather heating up and summer just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about your garden. Chamomile is a beautiful and useful plant. If you have a sunny window, you can even sprout this herb in a pot on your windowsill.  One of the easiest herbs to grow, chamomile requires very little care for a big payoff. It's extremely versatile, too—not only does it make delicious beverages and calming lotions, but it also deters some pests from other plants nearby.  This sweet-smelling flower not only adds beauty to its environment, it also serves as a high-quality herbal remedy.

Chamomile is a daisy-like flower that belongs to the Asteraceae family of plants. It has been cultivated for centuries across the world because of its many uses. As an herbal remedy, it has been used as a folk medicine since ancient times and is still used today by herbalists in India, Africa, and around the world. Its flowers can also be used in tea (it's delicious), in potpourri, or—our favorite use—as an edible flower!

Below are our top tips on how to grow this lovely plant in your own backyard:

1. Select a spot in your yard that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and has good drainage.

2. Add compost to the soil to enrich it and make it more porous, and then rake it smooth.

3. Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep, 5 inches apart, and water them lightly each day until they germinate.

4. When the seedlings are 6-8 inches tall, thin them out so they're 9-12 inches apart, cutting off any weak seedlings at ground level with a pair of scissors.

5. Keep watering them regularly until they're ready for harvest (usually 2-3 months after planting).

6. Harvest by picking a flower head when all but two or three flowers have opened up and dried out, cutting the stem just above where it joins the main plant with a sharp pair of scissors or garden shears!