Calendula, the original Golden Girl
Bright and sunny, Calendula is a staple in old European Gardens. Records of Calendula cultivation go as far back as the 1200s. Calendula was an important plant for medicine and brought comfort to the hearts and spirits to European Settlers who brought it to the New World for the feeling of home that it held for them.
There is joy to be found in learning the folk tales that people created over the years to enrich the history of the plant. Calendula's historic folk tale describes a beautiful, golden-haired child known as Mary-Gold. She spent all of her time in the garden watching the sun until one day she disappeared and was never found. In the place where she used to sit, there grew a little sun-like flower. The child’s friends proclaimed that the little flower was really Mary-Gold and that she had been turned into a flower.
Despite it's delicate appearance, Calendula is a useful hardy plant and it's durability is shared with those who use it for it's medicinal powers. It's the last sunny flower in the garden, and as fall approaches this rugged flower can sustain chilly winds and cold weather. Once used for soups and stews, it came to be know as "pot marigold", because they would throw it into the soup pot! It has been known as poor man's saffron and used as food coloring and a dye for fabrics. For Hundreds of years Calendula has been used to staunch the bleeding of wounds, and during the civil war many doctors carried around dried petals in their medical pouches.
Today it is used in the formula for Bodelevy Botanicals Bumps Be Gone. We use it for it's anti inflammatory properties as well as it's moisturizing yet firming abilities. It joins forces with Yarrow and Chamomile to create a powerful solution for red bumpy skin and conditions such as keratosis pilaris. Later this month keep an eye our for a collagen skin tea staring Calendula!
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