Learn how to grow calendula in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. This easy-to-grow medicinal flower thrives in our climate, repels pests, and can be made into healing salves.

Why Every Santa Cruz Garden Needs Calendula

If I could recommend just one flower for the vegetable garden, it would be calendula. This cheerful, orange-petaled plant does everything: it attracts beneficial insects, repels pests, adds color to your salads, and makes a healing salve for cuts and scrapes. And in our Santa Cruz climate, it practically grows itself.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis), sometimes called pot marigold, has been grown in kitchen gardens for centuries. It's one of those rare plants that's as useful as it is beautiful—and it thrives in our mild, Mediterranean conditions with almost no effort on your part.

Why Calendula Loves It Here

Santa Cruz County's climate is nearly perfect for calendula. Unlike many flowers that struggle with our dry summers or cool coastal fog, calendula adapts to both.

What makes our climate ideal:

Mild winters mean you can grow calendula almost year-round
Cool coastal temperatures keep plants blooming longer (calendula sulks in extreme heat)
Our dry summers don't bother this drought-tolerant plant
Even foggy gardens in Aptos or Santa Cruz get enough light for calendula

In hotter inland areas like Boulder Creek or Watsonville, calendula may slow down in midsummer but will bounce back as temperatures cool in fall.

Varieties Worth Growing

All calendula varieties share the same easy-going nature and medicinal properties, but they vary in color and flower size.

'Pacific Beauty' is the classic choice—large, vibrant flowers in shades of orange and yellow. It's widely available and reliably productive.

'Resina' is bred specifically for high resin content, making it the best choice if you're growing primarily for salves and medicinal use.

'Flashback Mix' offers something different—petals with a pinkish-red hue on the undersides that catch the light beautifully.

'Lemon Cream' provides softer, pale yellow blooms that blend well with other garden colors.

For most gardeners, a packet of mixed calendula seeds offers plenty of variety. Save seeds from your favorites to grow again next year.

Planting Calendula in Santa Cruz

Calendula is one of the easiest plants to grow from seed—no indoor starting required.

When to plant:

In Santa Cruz County, you have two main planting windows:

Fall (September-October): Plant seeds for winter and spring blooms. Calendula is frost-tolerant and will sail through our mild winters.
Early spring (February-March): Plant for late spring and summer blooms.

Fall planting often produces the strongest plants because they establish roots during our rainy season and bloom prolifically in spring.

How to plant:

Choose a spot with full sun to partial shade. Calendula tolerates more shade than most flowers, making it useful for those partly shady Santa Cruz gardens.

Scatter seeds directly where you want them to grow, or plant in rows about ¼ inch deep.

Space plants 8 to 10 inches apart, or thin seedlings to this spacing once they're a few inches tall.

Water gently until seeds germinate—usually within one to two weeks.

That's it. No fancy soil preparation, no fertilizer, no fussing. Calendula thrives in average garden soil and actually blooms better without rich amendments.

Care and Maintenance

Calendula requires minimal attention once established.

Watering: Water regularly during dry periods, but don't overdo it. Calendula tolerates drought better than soggy soil. Once established, weekly deep watering is usually sufficient, even during our dry summers.

Fertilizing: Skip it. Calendula doesn't need fertilizer and may produce more leaves than flowers if overfed.

Deadheading: This is the one task that makes a real difference. Pinch or cut off spent flowers regularly, and your calendula will keep blooming for months. Stop deadheading and it will go to seed instead.

Pest and disease: Calendula is remarkably trouble-free. Aphids occasionally appear but rarely cause serious damage. Powdery mildew can develop in humid conditions—improve air circulation by spacing plants adequately.

Calendula as a Companion Plant

Calendula earns its place in the vegetable garden through more than just beauty.

Benefits to your vegetables:

Attracts beneficial insects: Bees, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps love calendula flowers. These beneficials pollinate your crops and prey on garden pests.
Repels some pests: Calendula is said to repel tomato hornworms, asparagus beetles, and other unwanted visitors. The evidence is partly anecdotal, but generations of gardeners swear by it.
Trap crop for aphids: Aphids sometimes prefer calendula to your vegetables, concentrating on the flowers where they're easier to manage.
Living mulch: Dense calendula plantings shade the soil, reducing water loss and suppressing weeds.

Good companions:

Tomatoes and peppers
Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale)
Leafy greens
Cucumbers and squash
Beans and peas

Tuck calendula throughout your vegetable beds rather than isolating it in a separate flower area. The closer it is to your crops, the more benefit it provides.

Harvesting Calendula

Harvest flowers in the morning after dew has dried but before the heat of the day. This is when the medicinal resin content is highest.

For fresh use: Pick flowers as needed. They'll last several days in water.

For drying: Harvest fully open flowers. Spread them in a single layer on screens or drying racks in a warm, dry location out of direct sunlight. They're ready when the petals feel papery and crisp—usually within one to two weeks.

For seed saving: Let some flowers go to seed at the end of the season. The seeds are curved, bumpy, and easy to recognize. Collect dried seed heads, separate the seeds, and store in a paper envelope in a cool, dry place. They'll remain viable for several years.

Eating Calendula

Calendula petals are edible and have been used in cooking for centuries. The flavor is mild—slightly peppery, slightly tangy—and the color is stunning.

Ways to use calendula in the kitchen:

Salads: Scatter fresh petals over green salads for color and mild flavor.
Rice and grains: Add dried petals to cooking water for a golden hue (calendula was historically called "poor man's saffron").
Soups and stews: Stir in petals at the end of cooking for color.
Baked goods: Fold petals into muffin or cake batter.
Butter and cheese: Infuse softened butter with petals, or add to homemade cheese for golden color.
Tea: Steep fresh or dried petals in hot water for a mild, soothing tea.

Use only the petals, not the green base of the flower. And as with any edible flower, make sure your calendula hasn't been treated with pesticides.

Making Calendula Salve

This is where calendula really shines. A homemade calendula salve is gentle enough for babies, effective on everything from diaper rash to gardener's cracked hands, and surprisingly easy to make.

What you'll need:

1 cup dried calendula petals (loosely packed)
1 cup carrier oil (olive oil works well and is easy to find)
1 ounce beeswax (about 2 tablespoons of pellets)
Small glass jars or tins for storage
Optional: a few drops of lavender essential oil

Step 1: Infuse the oil

Place dried calendula petals in a clean glass jar and cover completely with oil. You have two options:

Sun infusion (slower but traditional): Seal the jar and place in a sunny windowsill for 4 to 6 weeks, shaking occasionally.

Heat infusion (faster): Place the jar in a pot of water (like a double boiler) and heat on low for 2 to 3 hours. Don't let the oil get too hot—you're infusing, not frying.

Strain the oil through cheesecloth, squeezing to extract as much as possible. Compost the spent petals.

Step 2: Make the salve

Measure your infused oil—you should have close to 1 cup. Pour it into a small pot or double boiler and add the beeswax.

Heat gently, stirring, until the beeswax melts completely. Remove from heat.

If using essential oil, add it now and stir to combine.

Pour immediately into clean jars or tins. The salve will begin to set as it cools.

Step 3: Use and store

Apply to minor cuts, scrapes, burns, bug bites, dry skin, chapped lips, or anywhere skin needs soothing. The salve will keep for about a year stored in a cool, dry place.

Growing Calendula with Kids

Calendula is an excellent plant for young gardeners. The seeds are large enough for small hands to handle, germination is quick and reliable, and the bright flowers provide almost instant gratification.

Kids can:

Plant seeds directly in the garden or in containers
Watch for seedlings (calendula germinates in one to two weeks)
Deadhead spent flowers to keep blooms coming
Harvest and dry petals
Help make salve (with adult supervision for the heating steps)

There's something magical about a child using a healing salve they grew and made themselves. It's a lesson in self-sufficiency that sticks.

Year-Round Calendula in Santa Cruz

With our mild climate, you can have calendula blooming nearly year-round with successive plantings:

Fall planting (September-October): Blooms winter through spring
Spring planting (February-March): Blooms late spring through summer
Self-sowing: Once established, calendula often reseeds itself, popping up wherever conditions suit it

Let a few plants go to seed each season, and you may find calendula becoming a permanent, self-sustaining part of your garden. Most gardeners consider this a feature, not a problem.

A Garden Workhorse

Calendula doesn't demand attention. It doesn't need perfect soil, constant watering, or careful fertilizing. It just grows, blooms, and keeps on giving—flowers for your table, medicine for your skin, habitat for beneficial insects, and cheerful color through the gray days of winter.

In a Santa Cruz garden, where we're already blessed with a climate that lets us grow almost anything, calendula is an easy yes. Plant some this season and see for yourself.

Related guides:

Growing Calendula in Santa Cruz: The Easiest Medicinal Flower for Your Garden