7 Reasons to Grow Calendula

Calendula flowers can benefit soil, repel pests, and aid healing. I’ve been growing Calendula officinalis—also called pot marigold—throughout my garden for years, and can hardly contain my excitement to tell you all about it! Here are some of the many reasons this herb is frequently grown in the permaculture garden.

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Calendula will help reduce garden maintenance while yielding an abundance of useful flowers by doing the following things.

1: Calendula Protects Soil

Calendula grows especially well in the cooler seasons of spring and fall, though it will grow all summer long in mild climates, too. Since it has thick, fibrous roots and grows in thick patches, it can be used as a cover crop or as a living mulch to protect the soil. Just sow calendula seeds in the fall for a spring cover crop/mulch, or sow seeds in mid-summer for a fall cover crop to protect the soil throughout the winter.

Calendula will grow thickly and die back on its own, enriching the soil with biomass. Or it can simply be pulled in time for planting and composted. I leave calendula planted on the perimeter of my crops as a trap crop (see #2 below).

The benefit of growing a thick crop of calendula is that it can also be used as a cut flower. Calendula bouquets are a beautiful sight.

2: Calendula Repels Pests

One late summer a few years ago I noticed the stems of my calendula plants covered in aphids. I was alarmed and naturally worried that the aphids would be attracted to the crops around them. When I inspected the crops, I couldn’t find a single aphid—they were all on the calendula!

This herb truly lives up to its reputation as a trap crop—”trapping” pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and thrips by exuding a sticky sap that they find more appealing and delicious than nearby crops.

See: 6 Flowers to Plant in the Vegetable Garden

3: Calendula Attracts Beneficial Insects

Calendula flowers provide nectar and pollen that attracts pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The nectar—along with the pests that it traps—attracts beneficial insects such as ladybugs, hoverflies, and lacewings.

They even stay to mate and increase the number of beneficial insects in the ecosystem! (They will mate and stick around where there is abundant food.) As a matter of curiosity, did you know that ladybug mating can last up to two hours???

Here is what I found on the calendula in my garden recently (warning: beetle sex!):

4: Calendula Enhances Fruit Tree Guilds

For all of the reasons mentioned above, calendula is an excellent multi-functional plant for the permaculture garden. In fact, Gaia’s Garden suggests using it in fruit tree guilds and food forests.

5: Calendula Dazzles the Edible Landscape

Rosalind Creasy, in Edible Landscaping, encourages the use of calendula in the edible landscape because it brings such a bright, cheery flash of color. I’ve used calendula for years in my landscape, and I love it because it is both beautiful and low-maintenance.

6: Calendula Aids Healing

Calendula has powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial properties, and is often used to soothe a long list of skin ailments including—but not limited to—cuts, scrapes, bruises, bee stings, insect bites, fungal infections, eczema, and rashes. That’s why I use calendula flower petals to make a healing calendula oil and a soothing salve.

Calendula is hypo-allergenic, so it is often used in personal care products for sensitive skin.

According to The Backyard Homestead, calendula petals also make a delicious medicinal tea. The petals are easily dried and stored.

Here are 14 other medicinal remedies using calendula.

7: Calendula Adds Color to Culinary Creations

Calendula flower petals—fresh or dried—will spruce up salads, cream cheese, or cooked vegetables.

According to Homegrown Herbs, calendula is also used as a natural food coloring for common foods such as cake frosting or broth. It can substitute for high-priced saffron to make golden-colored rice.

How to Grow Calendula

Calendula is an annual herb that grows in zones 3-9. Although it is an annual, it will easily self-seed in most climates.

I collect dried seed heads each season so I always have a supply of seeds.

Here is where you can buy calendula seeds. Sow seeds any time simply by sprinkling them on top of the soil and watering them well. If you can’t grow as much calendula as you would like, you can buy dried calendula flowers for your medicinal and culinary needs.

Calendula is such a joy, and I love sprinkling it around the garden each season.

Need more ideas for building soil in the permaculture garden?

Click here to get your 19-page Guide to Organic Soil Amendments!

The following articles will help you on your journey toward a vibrant and productive garden.

• 5 Ways to Prevent Soil Erosion
• 7 Ways to Improve Soil Quality
• 9 Organic Amendments that Improve Soil Structure & Texture
• Building the Right Compost Bin
• The Lazy Gardener’s Way to Make Fertilizer
• Transitioning to a No-Till Garden

Using the power of plants:

• 4 Berry-Producing Shrubs that Fertilize, Too!
• 5 Reasons to Grow Yarrow
  
• 5 Weeds You Want in your Garden
  
• 7 Ways to Fertilize the Garden with Comfrey
  
• Does Comfrey Really Improve Soil?
• Grow Chives for the Best Strawberries
• How to Grow Perennial Sunflowers for Mulch
  
• What is Comfrey and How to Grow It
• When Weeds are Good

Would you like to learn more about using flowers to improve the biodiversity of your garden, reduce maintenance, and increase yield?

You’ll find loads of information just like this in my book, The Suburban Micro-Farm.

Even more ideas for growing a permaculture garden:

Learn more about permaculture in my article What is Permaculture?

Permaculture Homestead Design Tools:

• 3 Reasons to Hire a Permaculture Designer for Your Landscape
• 6 Maps to Draw for the Permaculture Designed Homestead
• Implementing Your Dreams on the Permaculture Homestead

Permaculture Deep Thoughts:

• Do You Make These 3 Permaculture Mistakes?
• How to Choose the Right Permaculture Class
• Why We Don’t Keep Chickens (Yet)

Permaculture Gardening Techniques:

• 10 Reasons to Plant a Hedgerow
• How to Plant a Hedgerow
• Benefits of the Edible Forest Garden
• Here’s a Quick Way to Terrace a Hill
• How to Kill Poison Ivy in 5 Steps
• The Circle Garden for Low-Maintenance Gardening

Growing Perennials Permaculture-Style:

• 5 Steps to Planting Fruit Trees
• 20 Perennial Crops for Wet Soil
• How to Grow and Use Currants
• How to Grow a Jelly Garden
• The Cherry Tree Guild & Natural Pest Control

Water Management:

• Contour Gardening to Minimize Irrigation & Maximize Yields
• Front Yard Rainwater Catchment
• What is a Swale & Why You Need One
• How to Construct a Swale in the Residential Landscape

The Power of Permaculture Herbs:

• 5 Reasons to Grow Chives
• 6 Reasons to Grow Oregano
• Does Your Permaculture Garden Need Daffodils?

How do you grow and use calendula?