Calendula officinalis is a cheerful, easy-growing flower that blooms reliably all summer long in zones 2 through 11. This hardy annual reaches 12 to 24 inches tall and produces fascinatingly shaped seeds that self-sow freely, turning your garden into a perpetual calendula landscape year after year. Plant in full sun, space 12 inches apart, and you'll have flowers ready to harvest in just 45 days. Its frost tolerance means you can direct sow around your last frost date and watch it shrug off cool spring and fall weather with ease.
Full Sun
Moderate
2-11
24in H x 12in W
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Moderate
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Calendula's self-sowing habit is its greatest gift to gardeners: plant it once, and it returns without fussing. The flowers bloom prolifically all summer, offering continuous color and purpose from a single sowing. Its hardy nature lets you direct sow early in spring, and it tolerates the temperature swings that make other flowers hesitate. Few plants offer this combination of reliability, longevity, and pure visual abundance in a single season.
Calendula flowers are harvested for their petals, which have long been valued in traditional remedies and preparations. The blooms are also grown as ornamental flowers, bringing warm color to garden beds and cutting gardens throughout the season.
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Direct sow seeds around your last frost date. Calendula is frost-tolerant and hardy enough to handle cool spring weather, so you can sow earlier than many annuals. Press seeds into the soil and keep the bed consistently moist until germination occurs.
Harvest calendula flowers 45 days after sowing, when the petals have fully opened and the blooms are at their peak color. Pinch or cut flowers in the early morning for the best quality. Regular harvesting encourages the plant to produce more blooms throughout the summer.
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