Sunshine in the Garden

 Calendula flowers are also known as the Pot or English Marigold. They are annual plants and each year they produce vivid orange daisy flowers that look like tiny sunshines. I am very keen on this plant because it is both beautiful and useful. I plant seeds (which look like toenail clippings) every year, starting them off in the greenhouse in March and planting the seedlings out in May. The new seedlings then grow alongside the seeds dropped by last year’s crop that have lain dormant over winter. This year I am also trying out a couple of variations on the colour – a ‘Neon’ and a ‘Sunset Buff’.

I don’t plant these out in any regimented pattern, but scatter them randomly through my fruit and vegetable plot and my wildlife area. As well as being attractive to pollinators because of their bright colour, they also attract pests such as aphids away from your crops so they are certainly helpful. They are also very amenable flowers and don’t need to be mollycoddled. They will grow just about anywhere and don’t mind being crowded, and the germination rate of the seeds is very high – it’s almost as though they want to help you!

Calendula flowers are edible – you can sprinkle the petals over a salad for extra colour – or dry them to make tea or to decorate cakes. Calendula oil is well known for soothing irritated skin and I make my own batch in the summer – it is really easy. Pick and dry your flowers out when you are experiencing hot and sunny weather – or if you have an airing cupboard you can put them in there for a couple of days. Then place the flowers in a sterilised, airtight jar and cover with olive oil. Leave to steep on a sunny windowsill for 2-3 weeks then drain off the oil and pour it into a sterilised bottle. It makes a good all round moisturiser and an after sun lotion. Some people add beeswax to the oil to make a solid balm, but I have not tried this – yet!

There are many calendula based recipes out there, I’m sure I will be experimenting for some time yet.


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