Edible gold

Easy to grow and floriferous, pot marigolds fill the garden with colour and the house with fresh flowers throughout summer. And they can be sown now, says Hazel Sillver

- Hazel Sillver

Flowering from May to September, pot marigolds come in many sunny shades. This is 'Sunset Buff'

FOR fiery colour and no-fuss gardening, calendulas are hard to beat. Commonly known as pot marigolds, they produce charming daisy flowers that blaze in shades of orange and yellow all summer long. As well as filling gaps in the border with colour, they make excellent cut flowers and companion plants in the vegetable patch.

The genus Calendula includes 15 species, some of which including the pot marigold, C. officinalis, and the field marigold, C. arvensis) are native to the Mediterranean, while others are endemic to the Middle East, including Iran, where calendula is much loved. Tagetes - also referred to as marigolds (including French and African marigolds) - is a different genus.

Healing qualities

Thought to have been introduced here by the Romans, C. Officinalis was once used to heal wounds and, being edible, added colour to dishes: hence two of its common names pot marigold and poor-man's saffron. Today it is still used in skincare, and the petals are added to summer dishes. Calendula is traditionally sacred to the Madonna: its amber petals are said to resemble the rays of her halo, which explains the name marigold (Mary's gold).

Pot marigold is a great companion plant for the vegetable plot because the aromatic foliage repels pests (such as cutworms). It attracts beneficial insects (ladybirds, lacewings, and hoverflies) that lay eggs near aphids, so their larvae can eat them, thus protecting vegetables. Calendulas can also attract aphids, in turn luring them away from your edible crops.

Grow calendulas near crops to attract beneficial pest predators

Cut flowers