Flowers are this amazing mixture of sweet colors, perfect affections, and intense love at the same time. With their variety of meanings, forms, colors, and scents, flowers are the best tool to bring beauty and positive emotions into your life and your environment. Scientific researchers have even shown the positive effects of having and giving flowers on the mood for several days.
The flower that we are going to talk about in this article is called “calendula,” also called the marigold. This plant is widely used for cosmetics because of its amazing virtues, but it is also has great anti-inflammatory properties. Moreover, the flower is pretty, so it is a wonderful choice to add to your home’s garden or to send to someone you care about.
In this article, we are going to present the following information:
- Stories about calendula
- What are the amazing benefits of calendula flowers?
- What are the characteristics of calendula flowers?
- What is the meaning of calendula Flowers?
- How to plant calendula flowers?
Stories about Calendula
During the Renaissance, in England, men used to offer baskets of calendula to the women they wanted to seduce. This tradition undoubtedly came from the mythological Greek legend about the young Caltha who waited every morning for the first light of day, because she was in love with Apollo, the god of the sun. However, she burned out of her passion and turned into a flower-sun, Calendula. Another myth comes to us from Greece: Artemis, no doubt jealous of his brother Apollo, had fun turning four of the women who loved him into calendulas.
In the folklore, marigold or calendula has supposedly magic powers: a garland of calendula prevents evil from entering the home and carrying a marigold flower brings good luck and protects from the evil eye.
What are the Amazing Benefits of Calendula Flowers?
This pretty orange flower, which grows in many gardens across the world, has been recognized since antiquity for its soothing and healing properties, and it is often used in skincare products. Its composition of acids, alcohols, mucilage, resins, and flavonoids, make this plant the ideal base for antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and healing treatments.
It is also an anti-inflammatory for the digestive system. Calendula stimulates the liver and gallbladder. In case of difficult digestion, but also gastroenteritis or gastric ulcers, you can take infusions of calendula. For irregular or painful periods, you can start to take it a week before their expected arrival for some relief from cramping.
The easiest way to benefit from the marigold’s therapeutic properties is to infuse the flowers, fresh or dried, at the rate of two tablespoons in a cup of boiling water and leave to infuse for 10 minutes under a lid. Generally, it is recommended to take two or three cups a day between meals.
What are the Characteristics of Calendula Flowers?
Calendula, or marigold, which means “the one who follows the sun,” is an annual herbaceous plant native to the Mediterranean, with robust stems and bright petals.
The German term, Ringelblume, which is also a name for the calendula, describes a “corkscrew flower.” This is the shape that doesn’t describe the flowers or the leaves, but the the achene, which is the fruit of the calendula. The shape of this is more or less twisted, and you can see semicircles or small hooks.
Calendula can grow generously to reach 70 cm high. From June until October, you can enjoy radiant flowers in orange or golden yellow tones. These “small suns” are about 4 cm in diameter, and their bright colors illuminate the gardens they are grown in. You can even tell time by the calendula, as the flowers open around 9 a.m. and close around 5 p.m. each day.
What is the Meaning of Calendula Flowers?
This flower was used as a sacrifice to many gods, be it Christian, Aztec, Buddhist, Hindu, and even in pagan religions. Calendula has close ties to the sun and its power of resurrection, in some religions.
The different types of calendula have the same basic meanings because of their same bright yellow, orange or red color. Linguistic experts evoke that the Victorian people, however, considered it as a symbol of despair and grief, and in the Mexican cultural conception, it is related to the memory of the dead during the famous “Dia de Muertos.”
Modern meanings value the color and sunny beauty instead, which gives the flower a sense of optimism and success. Therefore, you can use calendula to express creativity and the will to succeed, or the beauty and warmth of the rising sun. You can also give it to promote joy and a good understanding of a relationship.
How to Plant Calendula Flowers
Calendula is a carefree plant and very easy to grow. First, sow a few seeds spaced a dozen centimeters apart during March, or between April and May, in potting soil. Cover them very lightly, and then tamp and water regularly to keep the soil moist.
At the two or three-leaf stage, remove the most fragile plants to leave only one every 25 cm. Water only in hot weather.
You can then harvest according to your needs. Consider removing wilted flowers to stimulate the appearance of new flowers. Now you can enjoy your garden for many weeks to come.
Calendula leaves and flowers are edible and can decorate your salads and sorbets. This flower has also multiple virtues, with purifying, healing, and anti-inflammatory properties. In short, calendula is a small flower that cannot cease to amaze you and be useful to you.
Nature is full of secrets and wonders, and calendula is surely one of them! This beautiful little sun with its yellow and orange tones can bring some brightness within your life and your garden. It can express whatever your heart may hide as feelings of joy, wish to succeed, and creativity.
Let your calendula flowers seduce the hearts of your friends and family and express your deep feelings of success and joy for them.
This flower does not ask for at much care to grow, but it can bring beauty and health benefits. While calendula may have had some negative overtones in recent years, most of its meaning remains positive in our present period.
