Calendula

Calendula officinalis

Asteraceae

Pot marigold — the herbalist's everyday skin flower.

Culinary petal and topical herb.

Parts used: Flower heads
Traditional notes: Chapped skin · Minor cuts and rashes · Sore nipples (washed off before nursing) · Mouth rinse
Grow · USDA 6b: Hardy annual. Self-sows. Direct-sow in early spring and again in late summer. In work: Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct
Harvest: Pick heads when fully open, every few days — the more you pick, the more it flowers.

Deadhead for flowers all summer, or let the last heads go to seed.
Resinous heads are the medicine — pick when the disc is fully open.
It self-sows. Thin the volunteers in spring rather than buying more seed.

Safety

Asteraceae allergy

Companions

Plant with Anise hyssop, Bee balm, Borage, Broccoli, Clove pink, Cornflower.

Lookalikes

French marigold — A salve recipe that says ‘marigold’ sometimes meant Calendula, sometimes Tagetes. They are not the same plant, and Tagetes is the nematode folklore, not the skin oil.

Lore

It opens with the sun — calends, the first of the month — and medieval gardens used it as a poor man’s saffron for cheese and butter. The resinous petals still stain oil the color of a bruise salve, which is the other reason it was planted.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.