🌼 Calendula

Calendula, the pot marigold, is a cheerful, easy-going annual with bright orange or yellow daisy flowers from early summer until the frosts. It is a great plant for beginners, children and wildlife-friendly gardens, attracting bees, hoverflies and butterflies.

The petals are edible and have been used for centuries to colour and flavour food and to make soothing skin balms. It self-seeds freely, producing new plants each year, and the flowers last well when cut.

Varieties to try

Indian Prince (deep orange, dark centre)Pacific Beauty Mix (mixed yellows and oranges)Neon (bright orange)Orange King (large, double)Art Shades (cream to apricot)

Sow seeds directly outdoors in March to June, 1 cm deep, in rows 30 cm apart, thinning to 20–30 cm. Seeds germinate in about 10 days in cool soil. For earlier flowers, sow in September and overwinter in a sheltered spot, or sow indoors in March.

Calendula thrives in average to poor soil and full sun, and tolerates partial shade. Rich soil produces leaves and fewer flowers. It does well in pots, as part of a vegetable bed, or in a cottage garden border.

Top tips

• Sow in poor soil.
• Sow in September for earlier flowers.
• Thin to 20–30 cm.
• Scatter seed where you want flowers.

Deadhead regularly to keep the plants flowering for months; leaving the seed heads will lead to self-seeding. Water in dry spells but avoid feeding. Pinch out the tips of young plants for bushier growth.

Powdery mildew can appear in late summer, and aphids sometimes colonise the stems. Remove affected leaves and keep plants watered. Plants usually die after the first hard frost, but self-seeded plants will return in spring.

Top tips

• Deadhead often.
• Pinch out young plants.
• Don’t feed.
• Let a few self-seed.

Watch out for

AphidsPowdery mildewSlugs on seedlingsLeaf miner

Pick the flowers when fully open on a dry, sunny morning, after the dew has dried. Cut the whole flower head, or pull off the petals and use them fresh or dry. Picking regularly encourages more flowers.

To dry, spread petals or whole heads on a tray in a warm, airy place and turn daily until crisp, then store in a jar in the dark. Harvest the flowers throughout the summer and autumn.

Top tips

• Pick in the morning.
• Pick regularly for more blooms.
• Dry petals on a tray.
• Store dry petals in the dark.

Scatter fresh petals over salads, rice dishes and soups for colour and a mild peppery, tangy flavour: they are known as ‘poor man’s saffron’. Use them to colour butter, cheese, cakes, and bread. Infuse petals in oil to make a healing salve for dry or irritated skin.

Fresh flowers last a few days in the fridge. Dried petals keep for a year in an airtight jar in the dark, and make a calming tea. Calendula-infused oil makes a lovely handmade balm.

Top tips

• Use as a saffron substitute for colour.
• Dry petals for tea.
• Infuse in oil for balms.
• Scatter over salads.