Calendula is a very beautiful, soft orange flower that comes with many benefits! It is commonly used for skin ailments, but I enjoy it in black tea. It’s cold-hardy, short-lived perennial; although, it self-seeds! I experienced my calendula self-seed the second year, and my flower bed is actually full and plump LOL.
I designed and planned out a tea flower garden, but most of the seedlings died and the direct seeds never came up unfortunately. The calendula thankfully filled in the gaps and still made my bed look beautiful despite the failures of my plan for it! It also looks very nice next to the lavender bushes, which looks better than my original plan anyways!
With this being said, I really like calendula and watching it thrive against the south side of my brick home. So, how do I keep it growing?
Here are Some Options:
- bring it indoors
- refrain from deadheading to let self-seed for the next season (original plants die off)
- can deadhead throughout the blooming season to encourage more blooms though!
- collect seeds from the dead blooms, cut them back (especially if they go limp), and then sow yourself in spring
- remove dead calendula plants after first frost (to prevent disease)
Happy Growing :)
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