Reasons to Grow Calendula

Calendula Is Easy to Grow from Seed

I'm always looking for plants that grow easily from seed, and calendula is one of my top picks.

One reason for its ease in growing from seed is the fact that calendula seeds are quite large compared to other flower seeds. When seeds are larger, it's much simpler to space out the seeds and know the necessary depth for planting.

Not only are the seeds bigger and easy to handle, they're also very dependable with their germination. That means you've got a good chance that each seed you sow will wake up and grow into a seedling. I've found with calendula that the germination rate is almost always 100%, meaning for every seed I plant, I get a healthy seedling in return.

Those are good odds, don't you think?

Calendula Is an Edible Flower with Healing Properties

Calendula isn't just good for your garden and its health, it's good for your health, as well.

Calendula is a medicinal herb known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can be enjoyed either internally by drinking tea from dried calendula blooms or externally by creating calendula salve or oil. In other words, calendula doesn't just look pretty, it can make you feel pretty great, too.

There are ways to enjoy this edible flower even if you're not looking for any health benefits. You can dry and use the petals as a (free!) saffron-like seasoning. You can toss the petals into your salad bowl to add some pops of color or use the flowers as a garnish.

I enjoy using calendula both to make healing salves and massage oils, as well as for homegrown teas and tinctures. I love this list of ideas on how to use calendula blooms from The Nerdy Farm Wife.

Calendula Flowers Attract Tons of Pollinators

Calendula makes a wonderful companion plant for your favorite fruits and vegetables because it actually helps to increase your garden's productivity. Calendula flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, so they're super attractive to a variety of beneficial insects, including bees and butterflies, which are essential for plant pollination. That means more of those flowers on your tomato and cucumber plants will turn into tasty fruits you can harvest.

Plus, I love pairing the bright yellow, orange, and peach of calendula blooms with flowers in other colors for showy spring or fall color in my garden.

Calendula Protects Your Veggies from Pests

Calendula grows best during the same time as leafy greens like lettuce and kale, and it actually makes an ideal trap crop. A trap crop is simply a plant that's used to attract pests that would otherwise attack other garden crops. In other words, calendula can be the perfect decoy for your leafy greens—attracting all the aphids and caterpillars its way with its shiny and beautiful flowers so that those bugs stay away from your beautiful organic salad greens.

And the good news? The flowers are still completely pick-able and edible even when aphids are hanging out on the stalks.

Besides aphids, calendula also attracts lots of predatory insects like ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies (aka syrphid flies). These garden good guys help control populations of aphids, thrips, flea beetles, and other garden pests. 

And if that weren't enough, the smell of calendula repels rabbits and masks the scent of your tender veggies from pests that use smell to locate their next snack (like slugs).

Calendula is basically a cheap form of organic pest control, so interplant it with tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, carrots, squash, basil, salad greens, peppers, and so much more.

Calendula Protects Your Kitchen Garden Soil

Another reason I love growing calendula is because it helps maintain the health of my kitchen garden soil.

In the garden, bare and exposed soil is not ideal. With calendula planted in corners or along the borders of your kitchen garden, you'll know that there will be less bare soil, and this means less watering, less weeding, and less worrying.

Adding calendula throughout the kitchen garden helps ensure that there will be diversity throughout your garden beds and less exposed soil throughout the growing season.

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