How to Grow Calendula

How to grow calendula and use it medicinally to heal wounds and cure warts.  This unassuming little flower, also known as pot marigold, is one of the most valuable additions you should definitely have in your self-reliant garden. 

Calendula is an easy herb to grow. Also known as pot marigold, this handy little plant adds bright, cheery colors to your garden and provides you with edible flowers that are a delicious addition to your summer salads. The flowers are loaded with antioxidants and have been relied on for centuries to heal rashes, burns, and wounds.

By the way, don’t confuse pot marigold with the common garden marigold. While they are in the same botanical family, traditional marigold doesn’t offer the same medicinal benefits that calendula does. So when purchasing plants or seeds, make sure you are getting calendula officinalis. 

Here are some tips on how to grow this wonderful herb.

How to grow calendula for delicious salads and joyful wellness.

Photo by Hans at Pixabay

This flower earned the name calendula because it was supposed to bloom every month of the calendar.

It earned the name Marigold through a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon version of merso-meargealla or the Marsh Marigold (a different plant from Calendula).

Calendula has been used both for cooking and for medicine since the sixteenth century. The flowers of Calendula were once used to give cheese its yellow color.

You can use both the leaves and flowers of the herb Calendula. But make certain you are using Calendula and not another plant that is called Marigold. There are other plants with the name Marigold, but you want the real thing, so grow your Calendula from seed.

How to Grow Calendula

To make certain you are growing true Calendula in your garden, start these from seeds you order from a reputable dealer. 

You can either start your seeds indoors or plant them directly into the ground. Weather is unpredictable here in Oklahoma, so I prefer starting all of my seeds indoors. But if you choose to plant directly into your garden, make sure your soil drains well and water it daily. Calendula likes plenty of light, so plant it in the full sun.

Once the plants start blooming, pick the flowers every three days or so to keep the flowers coming. Deadhead the flowers that are going to seed. Harvest only the new flowers for your healing balm or for a salad. 

You'll find that the herb Calendula is easy to grow. Weed regularly and thin when necessary. If you sow your seeds in April, you should have flowers in June.

How to Grow Calendula
For the Medicine Cabinet

A poultice of the herb Calendula, or a calendula salve (see recipe below) is useful for curing warts.

Make an infusion of the freshly gathered flowers to ease the discomfort of a fever; it will promote perspiration, which helps drive the toxins from your body.

The infusion, once cooled, can also be applied externally to help heal wounds.

Or you can make a calendula salve.  Place 1/4 cup of dried calendula petals in a mason jar and cover with half a cup of extra-virgin olive oil.  Allow it to sit in a sunny window sill for two weeks until the oil is a rich, golden color.  Strain the oil in a cheesecloth to remove the petals and then place the oil in a crockpot with 1/8 a cup of grated beeswax.  Turn the crockpot on low, and allow it to heat slowly for two to three hours.  Add 40 drops of lavender essential oil then pour the mixture into a clean jar.  Allow it to cool, and then use the salve for everything from diaper rash to cuts, mild burns and even eczema.

I recently used calendula ointment to cure a small wart.  I dabbed a bit into the area every day, and gradually the wart went away.  It also takes the sting out of burns and help cuts heal much more quickly.

In the Kitchen

According to A Modern Herbal (Volume 1, A-H): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs & Trees with Their Modern Scientific Uses, the leaves when chewed at first communicate a viscid sweetness, followed by a strong penetrating taste, of a saline nature. Others describe the herb Calendula as having a tart or bitter taste. Add it to your salads and soups for a unique flavoring.

Learn More About Medicinal Herbs

Learn More About Self-Reliant Healing

Return from How to Grow Calendula to the Home Page

About the Author

My name is Sue Merriam, and I began the journey of self-reliant living more than three decades ago, which enabled me to stay home with my children. Fifteen years ago, I founded Joyful Homesteading to help others save money and face the future without fear. My goal is to give you practical, honest advice so you can save money and experience the joy of simple living. I hope you join me.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.