How and Why to Grow Calendula, aka Pot Marigold

Orange Calendula backlit by morning sun
Orange Calendula Back lit by Morning Sun
 “It hath pleasant, bright and shining yellow flowers, the which do close at the setting down of the sunne, and do spread and open againe at the sunne rising”.
                                                  Dodoens-Lyte said in 1578 of the calendula

calendula bud and bloom in potager
Perky flower and bud of Calendula in the potager

They bloom when summer is young and at its most pleasant... mornings still cool...afternoons not blistering...
sunny yellow calendula bloom


...just one of the many reasons for my feelings of affection towards them. So fresh...as yet unfazed and unswayed by future heat and humidity. In fact, I have come to think of them as the orange creamsicle and banana popsicle of the May and June garden. Delicious, and best consumed before melting.


yellow nasturtiums against rope taraccota pot in background
Nasturtiums in matching hues


I plant them from seed along with the nasturtiums... two, sometimes as many as five weeks before last frost, when temps are still cool enough (around 55-60 degrees F) for germination in about a week to ten days.  You might also try starting them indoors in late summer to early fall... for your autumnal pleasure if that is your leaning.

Golden Calendula and Winterbor Kale in the Potager
Golden Calendula and Winterbor Kale in the Potager
 I typically seed mine in one of the quadrants of the potager...along with kale or chard or bok choi. The Winterbor Kale I paired it with (find it here at Territorial Seed Company)...


single calendula blossom



in the potager this season was started from seed at about the same time. The foamy muted green of the kale foliage contrasting beautifully with the almost iridescent quality of the calendula blooms when back lit by morning sun and light.



Like most Okie blooms, they prefer afternoon shade, consistent moisture and fair to good drainage. Adequate air circulation (not my strong suit in the garden) will keep powdery mildew at bay, and I am always on the lookout for pill bugs, slugs and snails.



Of course, like their garden companions, nasturtiums, they will reward you for your deadheading ritual, and will respond generously with more bloom, particularly if dosed with a high phosphorus feed now and again. 

Orange Edible Flower: Nasturtium
Porcelain berry vine with nasturtium blooms

This time of year I am regularly cutting lettuces, greens and herbs in the morning, so cutting or deadheading my calendula is hardly a chore.


Golden Yellow Calendula

Occasionally a few of these edible flower petals will find their way into a salad or batch of scrambled eggs (however, if you plan to use them for culinary purposes, grow the single varieties which are purported to have the most flavor). Quite happily, another edible bloomer,


Double Form Yellow Calendula Bloom

the sunny Yellow Stella De Oro Daylily blooms nearby in an equally happy color palette (I am a girl who LOVES her color echoes) to complete the edible flower calendula/nasturtium/daylily triumvirate.

Stella d'Oro Yellow Daylily
Sunny Stella De Oro Daylily
A fly pollinator on calendula bloom
Tiny pollinators are attracted to its daisy shaped blooms...and make me happy
.
Double Orange Calendula Bloom
Calendula are at their best early in the day when they catch the glow of the morning sun.
This double yellow Calendula looks like the sun itself.
Opening bloom of a yellow calendula
Calendula opens with the morning sun, and closes with the setting sun
Some of these cheery edible flowers make their way into my salad bowl, but most are cut to create sweet arrangements that feel and look like summer mornings themselves. I can almost feel a lazy summer breeze gently blowing the white sheets drying on the clothesline as I arrange them.


fresh cuts of nasturtium, calendula, sedum 'Autumn Joy, lamb's ear, and frilly kale


Not often, but sometimes, with the help of this cheery bloomer,


summer mornings really CAN live up to to their bucolic magazine reputations.


Carefree


Bright



Fresh


Innocent


and Magical


and remind us of what it felt like to be a kid again,


on a summer morning,

lamb's ear leaf with feverfew bud

 just eating our popsicles, fighting with our siblings,


 safe and secure, 

The Batesville, IN home where I was born, and where my mother hung clothes on the line.

while mom hung our wet linens on the sagging clothesline.

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