Calendula

Calendula officinalis

From early summer into autumn, calendula gives you orange and yellow flowers. It lives for one year but copes with cold. The petals are edible and add colour to salads and rice. It grows in almost any soil and drops seed that comes up all around. Sown in autumn, it survives the winter and flowers early the next year.

Looking after it

Water: Once it's growing well, calendula copes with dry spells. Water seedlings and plants in pots. Keep water off the leaves to slow down powdery mildew. Feeding: It needs little food. Rich soil or a lot of feeding gives soft leaves and fewer flowers. Plants in pots can have a liquid feed once a month.

Cutting and after flowering

In the morning, cut fully open flowers for the vase or for their petals. Snip off the faded ones every few days. Otherwise the plants set seed and stop flowering. Cut flowers last about a week in a vase. Dry the petals on paper in a warm, airy place and they keep for months in a jar.

What can go wrong

Powdery mildew. From midsummer a white, dusty coat covers the leaves, worst in dry soil. Water in dry spells, give plants space and pull out badly affected ones. Late sowings stay cleaner.
Blackfly. Small black insects cluster on the shoot tips and buds. Rub them off or spray them off with water. Ladybirds and other predators soon follow.
Slugs and snails. In wet weather they eat seedlings overnight. Protect young plants at night until they are well grown.

Growing facts: RHS, UC ANR and seed-company sowing guides. Calendula care: RHS. pH: Utah State University extension.