Calendula

It's July and my garden is going great guns. Deer fencing has been mostly effective this season and so far we have had only a couple minor break-ins. I was out weeding before it got too hot and I stopped to work on my chairs - but before I quit, I noticed how pretty the calendula were looking.

Calendula is also called 'pot marigold' and I much prefer them to regular marigolds. They are attractive, and easy to grow (mine come up year after year from spent flower heads gone to seed, I missed during fall clean-up), bloom all summer and require little except regular water and occasional deadheading. While I've never used them medicinally, calendula flowers contain high amounts of flavonoids, potent antioxidants that are good for hair and skin and promote wound healing. Their yellow and orange pigments also were used in the 1700's and 1800's as food coloring to color cheese and butter. If you are partial to flowers in your salad, calendula petals add pretty color, along with violets, chive flowers and nasturtium flowers.

One more week here, then its off to Ohio!