Calendula in the garden
Calendula is one of my favorite flowers to grow, not only for its many uses in the garden but for it’s many uses in the home. My initial experience with calendula was during a friends birthing experience. She was taking a bath during labor, and she had these beautiful orange flowers floating around her. It was a magical sight, and my first introduction to the utility and symbolism of this striking neon flower. 14 years later and it is now one of my favorite plants to grow in both my herb and vegetable garden, as well as my flower garden for a pop of color… pretty much anywhere I can sneak a few extra buds.
Edible organic flowers for salad additions and teas
If you haven’t seen calendula in real life, it’s shocking how orange it really is. Pictures do not do it justice.
Homemade calendula & jewel weed soap
I like to pair it with anise or borage because I just love me an orange and blue flower combo. While calendula makes eye-catching additions to salads and garnishes, she’s more than just a pretty face. The flowers are packed with flavonoids, antibacterial and antiviral properties (Mount Sinai, 2023). It’s also been shown to aide in the healing of minor dermatitis and decrease inflammation. Aside from teas and edible flower arrangements they can be used in soaps, tinctures and salves for various ailments. I’ve made jewelweed and calendula soap and a salve for next seasons reliable spring time cleanup encounter with poison ivy, and for diaper rash salves in gift baskets.
Fast forward to my friend’s 3rd baby and I’m sending her home grown calendula flowers and infused oils for her next birthing ceremony. This lovely flower is also a potent natural dye for textiles so you can add her to your dyers garden.
Gift basket with dried organic calendula flowers, calendula infused oil, a home crochet sunhat for baby and some dark chocolate for the mama to be
There are several different color variations for the visual garden that come in vintage peaches and dusty red, but I prefer to stick with classic calendula officinalis, with the only variation being the Resina Calendula strain. This has the most medicinal value because of the higher resin content, it was easy to find in organic, is open pollinated and not difficult to save seeds. I will often grow the classic strain and the resina, for a shade variation when making visual displays for gift baskets.
Bumblebee visiting Calendula officinalis
Growing Calendula:
Calendula requires full sun and well drained soil.
Sow in the spring just before your last frost date. For early blooms sow inside 6-8 weeks prior to last frost date and transplant (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2023). You may also spot some volunteer plants if any of last years had a chance to go to seed in the garden. Dependent on your conditions it may become weedy if left to go to seed.
Continue to dead head throughout the season and you will get continuous blooms, don’t forget to save your flowers! For a rush of new flowers you can sow a new succession in July and June.
Word on the street is that diseases and pests can include cabbage whites, aphids, mosaic virus and powdery mildew. With all sincerity, I have not seen these on the calendula in my garden. I WISH it was a better trap crop for those dang cabbage flies, but alas… there is nothing they love more than broccoli in my garden. What I do see on an occasional planting is thrips. If I run a finger over the disc florets, the inner circle of the flower, I can see these near microscopic flying insects.
Not to sound like a broken record here, but especially with thrips, there is almost no point in using any pesticides, chemical or natural, for removal. They are very prevalent and it will also kill your little soldiers out there who are working hard to keep your garden safe. Trust me in that I understand that this can come with some frustration and sadness over the inevitable loss of some flowers, but for the long term good, it’s worth it.
I have never noticed visual damage or otherwise from thrips. With calendula, if I do happen to notice a large amount of them, I will cut the plant down the lowest lateral bud to allow for new growth and be rid of them, at least for a little while. Another method is to simply rinse them off outside. It makes for a longer drying process but if you’re using it for teas or oil infusions, it’s worth it.
Hover flies love calendula, and I love hover flies. This could be due to the nector but also due to the fact that their larvae eats thrips and aphids (Bayer, 2020). Maybe this explains the lack of damage to my calendula even when I do find thrips.
Calendula will tolerate low-water situations and enjoys well drained soil. As with most plants, you will need to water regularly until established and in midsummer (about 1 to 1.5 inches). Avoid overwatering. (Utah State University, 2020).
To summarize:
Calendula can be used for…
Edible flowers, calendula adds a beautiful pop of color to your dishes
Food coloring
Dried flowers for teas
Infused oils for making balms, soaps and lotions (Check out Mountain rose herbs blog post on 3 ways to infuse oils with herbs.)
Dyeing textiles
Homemade calendula salve for a baby shower using Calendula, jojoba, vitamin E & beeswax
I hope this inspires you to grow a little more calendula in your garden, I promise you won’t regret it.
