208 · Calendula Pink Surprise

About this plant

The unusual one: soft apricot petals washed with pink, ruffled and frilled, on a plant that blooms all winter here. Petals are edible and dry beautifully for tea or salve. In Fountain Hills this is a December-to-May flower — plant it now, enjoy it through spring, and let it reseed. Note: Cool season — plant now, but it will decline and die in the June heat. Frost hardy to ~25F. Keep it watered; it will not tolerate drying out.

Planting it at home

When to plant out

Right away. Our low-desert planting window for cool-season plants ends about mid-February.

Where

Full-sun winter bed, vegetable garden border, or container. Pairs well with lettuce and brassicas.

Spacing

10 in (Baker Creek)

Size

~12–24 in tall (Baker Creek does not state height for this cultivar; species range 8–24 in per Utah State Extension)

Support

Bush / compact — little or no support

Care

Sun

8–12 hours full sun; tolerates part shade in hot climates

Water

Consistent moisture — the one calendula rule. Do not let it dry out.

Feed

A light flower fertilizer every 3–4 weeks while blooming (general guide).

Pick / harvest

Cut when the flower is half open or just opened that day, in the morning after dew dries. For drying/salve, pick as blooms begin to open and strip petals from the bitter center.

Deadhead

Cut off spent flowers to keep new blooms coming.

Good to know

Caution

Petals only are edible. Do not eat leaves or stems.

Grown from

Seed — sown by FHCG volunteers

Uses

Cut flower / bedding / container / edible & herbal / pollinator border

Life cycle

Annual (self-seeding)

Heirloom or hybrid

Heirloom — saved seeds grow true

Pollinators

Honeybees and native bees, plus hoverflies (syrphids), whose larvae eat aphids. A beneficial-insect magnet in the winter vegetable garden.

Days to bloom

45–55 days to flower (Baker Creek)

Heat (our summer)

Prefers below 85F; stops blooming and declines in extreme heat (Utah State Extension). Finished by June in Phoenix

Cold

Yes — frost hardy, tolerates down to ~25F

Color

Apricot flowers tinged and blushed with pink, frilly/ruffled petals, darker centers

Edible

Petals only (slightly bitter, saffron-like). Strip from the bitter center (UA and UMN Extension).