On a grey morning in March, I saw my neighbour do something at her allotment that would make most garden centers cringe. She walked by racks of primroses, trays of bright petunias, and expensive roses in shiny pots. She went right to a messy corner where last year’s stalks were still sticking out of the ground like brown chopsticks. After that, she smiled and said, “I don’t need their flowers anymore.” One plant is all I need.
The flower that won’t die and makes garden centers nervous
If you ask three gardeners what their favourite plant is, you’ll get three different answers. If you asked them which one they would keep if they had to get rid of everything else, a surprising number of them would say calendula, the simple pot marigold.
It’s not the most beautiful flower, and it doesn’t often appear on glossy catalogue covers. But it slips into a bare patch of dirt, doesn’t mind the cold nights, and then bursts into a long, messy carnival of gold and orange.
You can’t compete with something that grows on its own for free.
Once you have calendula for a season, you start to see why nurseries have problems. You buy a small plant or a packet of seeds as an afterthought next to your “real” flowers. You throw a few seeds into an empty corner, almost as if you’re sorry.
By the middle of summer, that small corner has become a busy, orange ecosystem. Bees move from flower to flower, ladybirds patrol the leaves, and your sad-looking roses suddenly look better because there are finally enough pollinators around.
Calendula comes back on its own next spring. No going to the nursery. At the checkout, there are no impulse trays. Just a lot of quiet, stubborn abundance.
This plant acts like that friend who comes over early, brings food, does the dishes, and never asks for anything in return. Most modern bedding plants are bred to be short-lived, need a lot of water, and be a little fragile. Calendula, on the other hand, went the other way. It sprouts in cool weather, laughs at light frost, blooms for months, and then drops seeds like confetti.
That’s a nightmare for a business. Why sell a lot of delicate seasonal flowers when one hardy workhorse can outbloom them, feed the pollinators, and reseed itself every year?
How to grow this flower that makes you say, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”
It seems like cheating to grow calendula. Dig up the dirt a little, scatter the seeds, and then walk away. That’s the main way to do it.
You can give it a real head start by planting it directly outside as soon as the soil is ready in the spring or again in late summer for flowers in the autumn. The seeds are big enough to hold and look like tiny dried worms, so you can space them about a hand apart.
Water it once and then leave it alone unless the ground is very dry.
People often treat calendula like a high-maintenance diva, which is the biggest mistake they make. They put it in rich compost, water it too much, and then freak out when the stems stretch and flop. Calendula actually grows better in average or even slightly bad soil. It likes a tough life.
Another thing you shouldn’t do is deadhead like a crazy person. Yes, cutting off old flowers will help new ones grow, but if you want those magical self-sown babies to grow next year, you should also let some heads dry out.
To be honest, no one really does this every day.
When old-school gardeners talk about calendula, their voices change. A kind of quiet respect.
One retired grower told me, “I’ve lost expensive roses and half my dahlias, but I’ve never lost my calendula.” It just won’t stop.
And this is where it gets almost unfair, because calendula is more than just a pretty flower. It also works as a magnet, a medicine chest, and a protector of the soil.
Pollinator magnet: The simple flowers that look like daisies are easy for bees and hoverflies to land on.
“Trap crop” for pests: Aphids like calendula leaves better than your prized vegetables.
Edible petals—when added to salads, they give them colour and a hint of peppery flavour.
Calendula has been used in balms and creams for a long time because it calms the skin.*Cheap color*—One packet of seeds can fill a small garden for years.
When one tough plant quietly changes how you look at your whole garden
Once calendula gets used to your space, something small changes. You stop worrying about how to make the perfect flower bed and start seeing the life that happens between the petals. You see more lacewings, bees, and movement. The garden stops looking like a store and starts to feel like a living thing.
It’s okay if you still buy a few fancy plants every spring just for fun. But in the background, this rough-and-tumble flower carries the season, tying the beds together with bright orange splashes. All of a sudden, all those delicate, short-lived flowers on the nursery racks seem… optional.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Hardy and forgiving | Tolerates cool weather, average soil, light neglect | Reliable color without daily care or expert skills |
| Self-seeding habit | Drops viable seeds that sprout the next season | Saves money on annual flower purchases |
| Multi-purpose plant | Attracts pollinators, offers edible petals, aids skin care | One plant covers beauty, ecology and practical uses |
Questions and Answers:
Question 1What is it that the plant nurseries “hate” in this story?
Answer 1: It’s calendula, which is also known as pot marigold. Calendula is not the same as French or African marigolds (Tagetes). It is a cool-season flower that seeds itself and comes back easily, so you don’t have to buy a lot of bedding plants every year.
Question 2: Will calendula take over my whole garden?
Answer 2: It can seed itself a lot, but it doesn’t spread quickly. You can easily pull or move seedlings that you don’t want. If you cut off the heads of most flowers and leave a few to go to seed, you can choose how many come back next year.
Question 3: Is it possible to grow calendula in pots on a balcony?
Yes, it does very well in containers that are at least 20–25 cm deep. Put the pot in a sunny spot, use regular potting mix, and don’t overfertilise. In a small space, you’ll have colour for months.
Question 4: Is it safe and okay to eat calendula?
Answer 4: People often use calendula petals in salads, herbal teas, and as a colour substitute for saffron. If you’ve never eaten it before, start with small amounts and only use flowers you’ve grown yourself without pesticides.
Question 5: If calendula is so good, why don’t nurseries push it more?
Answer 5: A lot of people do sell calendula seeds or plants, but it’s not a big money-maker. Gardeners tend to buy fewer replacement flowers each season once they realise how easily it self-seeds and how long it blooms. That’s good for you, but not so good for repeat sales.
