Calendula officinalis ‘Erfurter Orangefarbige’

LATIN NAME: Calendula officinalis

COMMON NAME: Calendula

The calendula keeps its bright, orange-gold heads open through the cool months, and the stout stems hold the flowers above the softly hairy leaves. The upright, bushy, annual or short-lived perennial plant carries the oblong, softly hairy, pale-green leaves and the single or double, bright-orange or golden-yellow, daisy-like flower heads through the cool months, one of the fine, cheerful sights of the early border, drawing the bees. The petals have a long record as the fine, saffron-like colouring of the old kitchens, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the herb garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The calendula is a historic subject of the plant science, and the golden heads keep showing up in the work on the cool-season flowers. The way the single or double, bright-orange or golden-yellow, daisy-like flower heads open through the cool months has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the cool-season flowers, the edible flowers and the members of the daisy family. The softly hairy leaves and the bushy habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the calendula is a regular subject of the work on the golden heads of the cool world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The calendula is a fine, cheerful plant of the herb garden and the early border. The single or double, bright-orange or golden-yellow, daisy-like flower heads open through the cool months, one of the fine, cheerful sights of the early border, drawing the bees, and the petals come to the old kitchens as the fine, saffron-like colouring for the rice, the soups and the cheeses. The plant is one of the fine choices for the herb garden, the early border and the study collection, and it has been written up in the culinary and the botanical papers for the golden heads and the very long history. It is a fine, cheerful plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.

Sow in the early spring or the autumn for the cool-month heads, and the golden flowers will come fast.

To grow the calendula from seed, sow the curved, hooked seeds a centimetre down in the pot of fine, gritty soil, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings are up within a week or two and grow on fast. With the sun and the deep, well-drained ground, the golden heads will open through the cool months.