Calendula

[digitS']

Does the plant continue to produce tall straight stems all season?

Do some disbudding of the lateral buds ..

. if you are thinking about cutting for fresh flower bouquets

 

[heirloomgal]

Our’s typically reach 18-20 inches and will produce flowers till frost. The photo i posted is a plant roughly 12 inches now. Seed saving from these has been spotty so i just bought a half oz of seed several years ago, ending the “oh crap” we may not have many Calendula’s this year!

We’ve tried several other strains and prefer the triples to any of the rest.

I did the same thing with the french dwarf Marigolds, cept i bought an ounce of those.

Do you use the calendula in any food or drinks? I read once it used to be called 'pot marigold' because people cooked with it?

 

[Alasgun]

No; we’ve read about the “edible flowers” and did add some squash flowers to a stir fry recently; meh!

 

[heirloomgal]

No; we’ve read about the “edible flowers” and did add some squash flowers to a stir fry recently; meh!

I have a few friends that fry those blossoms up, I dunno, doesn't seem real appealing to me. Of course that many are stuffed with cheese probably helps the taste a little.

 

[digitS']

I have a few friends that fry those blossoms up

There you have it. Dip in batter and fry. I haven't had them stuffed with cheese but using cheddar/cream cheese mix and not pretending that they are jalapeños while  stuffing them should work out okay.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Also you can sugar them for cake decorations. They also dry well in silica gel for dry floral arrangements.

 

[Branching Out]

Last July my friend and I spent time carefully dead heading calendula Zeolights, which was a slow process. As an experiment I tried cutting back hard a second patch of the same variety, rather than just removing the spent blossoms. Those that had a hard chop in mid-July rebounded strong and flourished, while the ones that were just dead headed grew thin and scraggly as the summer progressed. So today I will be cutting the Zeolights calendula back hard-- which will take a LOT less time than dead heading them.

I also have calendula Indian Prince in my garden, and it is just beginning to flower-- kind of interesting that the Zeolights is so much earlier to bloom than the other one. Indian Prince also has a taller and more slender form as compared with the lower, mounding Zeolights plants.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

How about those roses. Many are edible. Especially the hips from my Rosa rugosa’s . I collect the hips for the horses and dogs they love them. Plus they’re full of VitC.

Calendula’s don’t seem to have any insect issues . They make a great companion plant in a vegetable garden because it attracts beneficial insects and repels unwanted pests including tomato worms and nematodes and it’s editable too.