Calendulas, my problem-solving plant.

I have a motto: If you can see dirt, you don’t have enough plants.

I don’t normally “do” formal gardens. I go more for the cottage garden style because I like seeing a bunch of plant materials with different textures and different size leaves, different color flowers, and different heights.

I’m sort of a plant slut. That’s just my style.

My friend Madeleine and I are polar opposites in the garden design and plant department. She believes in less. I believe in more. She can’t decide on anything at the nursery.

Instead, if I can’t decide on something, then I take it all, and often none of it is what I came for.

Our shopping excursion to a nursery might go something like this:

Madeleine: “What do you think about this one?”

Me “That one’s beautiful. Get it. It’ll grow great in the spot you want it for.”

Madeleine: “I’m not sure about the color.”

Me: “What about this one?”

Madeleine: “I think that one is too big for that spot.”

Me: “How about this one?”

Madeleine: “I don’t like the leaves.”

Me: “What’s wrong with the leaves? The leaves are pretty. What about this one?”

Madeleine: “It’s too purple.”

Me: “Too purple? Well if you’re not going to get it, then I am.” I place this plant into the already crowded cart.

Madeleine: “I kind of like this one, if only it were bigger”

Me: “That one’s the perfect size. I’m taking that one too. And if you’re not going to get those other three plants, I will. Hey, Mad, do you mind if I put these in your cart?”

Needless to say, my garden looks like a nursery threw up in it, and Madeleine’s yard looks a bit sparse.

Come to think of it, Mad’s garden had been looking sparse for a few years.

One fine day while visiting me in my garden, she noticed my calendulas. They were getting rangy and going to seed, and I was ripping them out.

Mad said, “I like those yellow flowers. They look so perky and happy.”

So, I gathered a bunch of seeds and walked to her house, two doors down, and sprinkled my handful of seeds in an empty space, one of many empty spaces in her yard.

I think Madeleine expected maybe one or two plants to grow.

I knew better.

Soon Frankenflower had filled all the empty space and was threatening other empty spaces. I felt so much better. I could now relax. I was no longer fixating on bare dirt every time I went into her backyard.

I could now carry on a conversation about something really important, like how big my thighs were getting, or if there would ever be another television segment of “The Bachelor.”or how many times in the same day you could walk into Sees candy and get a free piece before they said anything to you.

Calendulas are also called pot marigolds because they were used for cooking. They come in many shades of yellow. Calendulas are so easy. They require so little. They produce lots of bright blooms. In mild climates they practically grow all year round. They reseed like crazy. If calendulas get too invasive I just rip them out. If I want more, I just pull the dried flower heads off and sprinkle them around. I yank them out the moment they start looking rangy. Yank. Then I just sprinkle some calendula seeds where the old plant was. They grow fast. Calendulas are my problem-solving plant. If I have a spot that needs something or a spot that I have had no luck with anything else, I just throw some Caledula seed in it.

Throw some Calendula seeds around and enjoy!

Oh, and Madeleine, please finish planting the rest of your yard.

Comments

[Kalyn]

I use Coreopsis in the same way you use Calendulas, whenever I need to fill in a space I put a Coreopsis there! I'll try planting some of these, although I'm not sure they'll re-seed here where it's so cold. Fingers crossed!

[Chigiy]

Kalyn, I love Coreopsis. Coreopsis plants seem to last a little longer than Calendulas, if you dead head them faithfully. Coreopsis seems to come in more colors than Calendulas also. Calendulas bloom and die back fast but they reproduce and bloom here starting in January for about 10 months straight. The Coreopsis bloom time lasts for about six months here.

[Carol]

I agree, there is always room for more plants! I bet your friend doesn't stand a chance to buy a plant when she goes with you to a nursery.

I had to look to find out where you were, with calendulas blooming in January. Nothing blooms in January where I live, or nearly nothing.

[Chigiy]

Yes, it gets really ugly with me at the nursery, sort of like the half yearly sale at Nordstroms. I'm just kidding. Actually, I encourage my friends to buy a lot at the nursery, so I don't look so bad.

[Carol]

That makes them "enablers", right?

[Chigiy]

I consider enabling a very important part of friendship.

[madeleine]

well, chigiy, i'd like to say that your description of me and my garden were complete fabrications. alas, they are dead on. even my good friend karen, the master gardener, laughed hard and said she could practically hear me saying those things at the nursery.... you will be most pleased to know that i have agreed to host karen's daughter's wedding reception in my backyard in june, in part so i'd be forced to finally finish planting my garden. of course, i'll still have some lovely spots of dirt showing :) but this should be a great relief to you. btw, the calendula and my apricot tree are in full bloom, so at least half my garden looks good.
xo madeleine
p.s. btw, you might have mentioned in my defense that i'm an interior designer, apparently suffering from some form of pre-planting traumatic stress disorder at the thought of planting the wrong thing in the wrong place....