Dreaming of creating a new herb garden in 2023

 While drinking calendula tea, I decided this pretty flower must be a part of the new herb garden.  Planning for a new herb design on this rainy, freezing January night. 

Pot marigold or Calendula is a medicinal flower that can be used to treat things like headaches, toothaches, and more. As a culinary herb, the flower petals of this plant are edible and can be used fresh in salads or even dried to color cheese. It is often used as a substitute for saffron and can add vibrant color to everything from poultry dishes to soups and stews.

Making pot marigold tea is divine. See picture of dried flowers in a cloth tea bag that I made tonight.

Calendula flowers are so pretty in the formal herb garden. And it's so easy to germinate. Grow in full sun and keep moist. Dead head spent flowers and save them, and more flowers will continue to grow until a hard frost.

                                              calendula seeds 

Hoverflies, predatory Miridae, ladybugs, lacewings, minute pirate bugs, and a variety of other beneficial insects love this cheerful beautiful bloom.

Intercropping calendula with carrots reduced carrot pest damage, including that caused by nematodes. Plant with potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, peas, asparagus, squash, melons, corn, basil, lettuce, peppers.

It can also be used as a fabric dye. Such a pretty shade of golden yellow.

The herb's antifungal and antimicrobial properties help prevent infection and heal injuries to body tissues. Calendula is also known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant components, which might help to fight cancer, protect against heart disease, and ease muscle fatigue.

Drinking calendula tea is reported to help heal gastric ulcers, congested lymph nodes and sore throat. It can potentially help break a fever by causing a sweat. Dosage is no more than 2 to 3 cups per day. (Not for pregnant women since it can stimulate menstruation).

For a flower, calendula actually contains some amazing nutrients and phytochemicals. Calendula flowers contain fatty acids and they’re also high in many antioxidants such as lutein, lycopene, beta-carotene, quercetin, rutin, and more! Many of these antioxidants are known for their roles in eye health, reducing inflammation, preventing heart disease, regulating blood sugar. Perhaps one of the most profound benefits of drinking calendula tea is its potential to help support healthy digestion. The medicinal properties of calendula make it soothing to the digestive tract. Considered to be a carminative herb, drinking calendula tea may be effective in helping ease and prevent heartburn and indigestion. It’s also very soothing to internal mucous membranes and can help support the healing of gastric and intestinal inflammation associated with conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

And when our digestive processes are functioning properly, we are better able to absorb the nutrients and beneficial phytochemicals from the food we eat. What's not to like?