Calendula

I drew calendula for its colour, a deep, warm orange so concentrated that it looks almost medicinal. The ray florets spread outward from a darker central disc, and the disc is more complex than it first appears. In this calendula print I drew the flower fully open and slightly closed, at different angles, so the plate shows both the face and the profile. Calendula, also called pot marigold, is a garden annual with a very long season, and the colour is the reason it is noticed first.

In shortCalendula, Calendula officinalis, is the pot marigold, a daisy-family annual from southern Europe. It flowers from summer until the frosts and has long been grown for its petals. The plate shows orange flowers open and half closed, on leafy stems.

Key Facts

Is calendula related to French and African marigolds?

No. Calendula is called pot marigold, and it is not related to the French and African marigolds of bedding schemes. Calendula, Calendula officinalis, belongs to the daisy family, Asteraceae. The bedding plants belong to a different genus, Tagetes, which comes from the Americas.

The “pot” in the name points to the cooking pot and the herb garden. The plant was first grown for culinary and medicinal use, long before it became a flower for borders. Both plants carry orange flowers, which explains the name they share, but they differ in leaf, scent and ancestry. Calendula leaves are slightly sticky and hairy, and its flower head is built like a daisy.

What does a calendula flower look like up close?

A calendula flower is a daisy-type head, which means it is many small flowers packed together. The long orange “petals” are ray florets. The centre is a disc of tubular florets, darker than the rays, which open in sequence from the outside inward as the head matures.

The original plant has a single ring of ray florets around the disc. Many cultivars have several rows, and fully double forms look like small chrysanthemums. The colour runs from deep orange to warm yellow, and some forms are bicoloured. The head follows the sun, opening in the morning and closing at dusk, so open and half-closed flowers can sit side by side on one plant.

How long does calendula flower, and does it come back?

Calendula flowers for a long season, from summer until the first hard frosts, and for longer in mild climates. Removing spent flowers keeps new buds coming. It is a fast-growing annual or biennial, about 20 to 60 cm tall, and it is easy to sow where it is to grow, in spring or autumn.

It self-seeds readily, so a patch often returns from fallen seed the following year, although each plant does not. The name comes from the Latin calendae, the first day of the month, a nod to how steadily it flowers. Bees and other pollinators visit the open heads, and because the season is so long, they find nectar and pollen in the weeks when other flowers have finished. The studio’s calendula growing guide covers the practical side.

What is the calendula plant like to grow and to look at?

Calendula is a compact, branching plant about 20 to 60 cm tall, with flowers held at the tips of the stems. The leaves are slightly sticky and somewhat hairy, and the stems divide repeatedly, so one plant carries many flower heads at once.

It is adaptable. It grows in a range of soils, though it prefers full sun and well-drained ground, and it is hardy through most winters in mild regions. Because it flowers so long and drops seed so freely, it tends to look like a perennial in a garden even though each plant is short-lived. That reliability is much of why cottage gardens and herb beds have kept it for so long.

Why has calendula been grown in kitchens and gardens for centuries?

Calendula has been grown for centuries because it was useful as well as bright. It was a pot herb, kept for the cooking pot and the apothecary shelf. The petals are edible, and cooks used them to colour food, which earned the plant the nickname poor man’s saffron. The colour is the point, since the flavour is mild.

Its meanings follow its habits. A flower that opens with the sun and keeps blooming until frost has long stood for joy, remembrance and protection. The studio’s essay on calendula symbolism follows those meanings across cultures, and calendula in art looks at how illustrators have drawn it.

Drawing the calendula

The plate shows calendula flowers on leafy stems. I drew the flower both fully open and slightly closed, at different angles, to show the face and the profile. In the open flower, the ray florets spread from the darker disc like a ring. In the half-closed one they draw in toward the centre, and the same flower reads as a different object.

The colour is what I drew the plant for, and the drawing is built around it. Strong orange can hide structure, so I kept each ray floret and the disc distinct. A photograph of calendula tends to burn out in the orange, with petal edges and centre running together. The hand-drawn digital illustration keeps them apart, so the plate stays readable up close as well as from across a room.

Where does a calendula print work on a wall?

The orange is strong enough to anchor a wall. Calendula suits a kitchen, a warm terracotta-toned room, a botanical wall or an interior with an apothecary mood. It also suits a warm or Mediterranean-inspired interior where one strong colour is wanted, and it sits comfortably beside fruit and herb plates in a kitchen or dining room. A dark frame deepens the warmth, and a pale wood frame is brighter and more botanical. The plate belongs to The Garden collection. In the photograph below, the calendula hangs with the lemon and apple plates in an industrial kitchen.

Fine-art print →

Frequently Asked Questions

Are calendula petals edible?

Yes, the petals are edible and have long been used to colour and garnish food. Their flavour is mild and slightly bitter. As with any flower, eat only petals from plants grown for the table and kept free of sprays.

Does calendula attract bees and butterflies?

Yes. The open, daisy-like heads give bees, hoverflies and butterflies easy access to nectar and pollen. Because calendula flowers over a long season, it can supply food when other flowers are scarce.

What colours does calendula come in?

The type species is orange. Cultivated forms range from deep orange to warm yellow, and some are bicoloured. Heads may be a single ring of ray florets, many rows, or fully double like a small chrysanthemum.

Is calendula easy to grow from seed?

Yes. Sow the seed where the plants are to grow, in spring or autumn. Calendula grows fast, and it often returns from its own fallen seed the next year. Removing spent flowers keeps it blooming until the frosts.

How is this print made, and how does it reach me?

There are two formats. The digital download is a high-resolution file that you print yourself, at home or at a print shop; no physical item is shipped. The fine-art print is printed to order on archival paper or canvas, framed or unframed, in sizes from small prints to over 150 cm (60 inches), and delivered to your door.