Growing marigold

In early March, my nursery group at uni sowed some marigold seeds, Calendula officinalis ‘Fiesta Gitana’. The purpose of this little exercise was to grow colourful, easy bedding plants to be sold with a community organisation specialising in propagated plants, the Friends of Burnley Gardens.

They were sown on March 13 into media with a layer of vermiculite on top, and put in the fog greenhouse where the tray was irrigated once a day, the bench kept at a nice temperature of 24°C, and the air at 25°C. This is all relevant, because of how well they performed after I transplanted them 35 days later on April 17 (by which time they were very much overdue for potting). I gave most of them to Friends of Burnley, but 6 I took home to give to my mother who, 5 days later, planted them in two hanging baskets. And they were completely fine! No forking, or wilting, nothing. For most of their lives as seedlings, environmental conditions were perfect, then suddenly they were put outside in cool temperatures, which according to bom.vic.gov, were between 14°C and 18°C. What a hardy plant! Below are two photos of each hanging basket on the deck.

I took it upon myself to find more about marigolds, particularly this species, so here’s a little fact card.

 Photo from http://flora.nhm-wien.ac.at/Seiten-Arten/Calendula-officinalis.htm

FACT CARD

Family: Asteraceae or Compositae

Common name: Marigold

Type: Upright annual herb

Uses: Annual display, container plant, border plant, companion plant, easy to establish

Leaves: Dull green, oblong to spatulate, hairy

Flowers: Monoecious (only stamens or carpels on one flower), double orange to yellow daisies

Propagation: Seed

Calendula: from the Latin "calendae", the first day of the month.
officinalis: used in medicine (from "opificina", shortened to "officina", originally a workshop or shop, later a monastic storeroom, then a herb-store, pharmacy or drug-shop).

References:

bom.vic.gov:

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/201304/html/IDCJDW3050.201304.shtml

Fact card:

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/marigo16.html

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Calendula+officinalis