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Cultivation of Calendula / Marigold

Site: Grow Calendula in a fine loam in a sunny area. Calendula like rich, well drained soil, but are very tolerant of average to slightly poor soils. Improving your soil quality will produce much healthier plants and flowers, so add plenty of compost. Add a general purpose fertilizer once a month.

Propagation: Calendula are grown from seeds. Sow seeds early in the season and cover lightly with 1/4" of garden soil. They germinate easily and will grow quickly, producing their first of a continual display of blooms by mid-summer.

Select a location in your garden where they can grow undisturbed for years and years, as these flowers will drop their seeds and reseed your flowerbed each year. Space plants 15" apart.

Growing: Once your Calendula is established, it should grow well, even if left unattended. Water during dry periods, once or twice per week. Add mulch around the plants to keep weeds down.

Early in the summer, the plants will begin to produce large flowers on long stems and will continue to produce flowers even after the first light frost.

Calendula is a somewhat hardy. It will not be harmed by a light frost either...

Tags: calendula, cooking, cultivation, gardeing, herbs, marigold

Every year I scour the catalogs and websites of my favorite nurseries looking for something new to experiment with for a season.  Sometimes it is an herb that dopes not grow well in Illinois and I need to prove that to myself.  Other times it is one I have heard about but never grown.  Sometimes it is a cultivar of a plant I love so I want to see what someone else has crafted into a new plant.  When the Herb Companion magazine came up with a list of five plants to try in 2010, it got me thinking of my own list of plants to recommend.  So here are 5 plants to try out in your garden this year.  In the next 5 days I will give information of growing cultivating, harvesting, and using these same five plants.

1. Mexican oregano  (Lippia graveolens) -  While not actually a member of the oregano family it still possesses the requisite essential oils that provide oregano's heady, easily recognizable fragrance and piquant flavor. Mexican oregano has a sweetness and intensity that many gourmets prefer to the flavor of the true European or Mediterranean...

Tags: basil, calendula, ezapote, gardening, herbs, marigold, oregano, sage

Some plants do better than others in containers.  Most annual herbs will do well in a container and grow larger in the ground.  Some perennial herbs can also do well in a container and you can bring them in to winter over.  Here are some facts and figures to use to create containers in your home with annual herbs.

Basil, Sweet (Ocimum basilicum ) - a taller grower, can get as big as 18 to 24 inches even in a container.  I suggest using Basil Genovese, Dwarf Sweet Basil, Lemon Basil, Cinnamon Basil, or Purple or Purple ruffled Basil instead of traditional sweet.  The others will grow shorter and not spread as widely and have smller leaves so they don't require as much water.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) - another tall grower it can get up to 36 inches in the ground it usually only gets as tall as 18 to 20 inches in a pot.  Place in the center of a round pot or the back side of a square and  enjoy the light fluffy foliage.

Pot Marigold (Calendula) - this is an edible flower, growing only 6 to 10 inches tall and coming in...

Tags: annual herbs, basil, container gardening, dill, marigold, parsley, savory