| Description |
Calendula, or Pot Marigold, is a yellow to orange flower grown for its medicinal uses and edible flowers. It is also a popular companion plant because of the beneficial insects it attracts. Although it is in the Daisy (Asteraceae) family with French Marigold, the two plants are in separate genera. French Marigold is usually not edible. Calendula is very easy to grow. It's flowers are often added to salads or used as food coloring and dye. The plant has antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Its leaves and flowers are often made into salves and poultices for wounds and skin irritations. Calendula repels whitefly from tomatoes and can lure aphids away from beans. It attracts beneficial insects like ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies, which prey on aphids.
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