It cannot be discussed that the calendula are beautiful. In fact, their shades and shades and oranges add, in fact, a bright touch of color to your balcony or garden.
But did you know that calendula besides being beautiful also have many other advantages? Let’s find out together the 7 reasons why you should start planting them at home.
Calendules attract pollinators
You knew that the pollinating insects Do they love calendars? This means that these flowers can help attract bombs, butterflies and even colibrì. Our planet needs pollinators and the calendula in your garden will surely attract them.
Calendules produce abundant nectar and easily accessible pollen, making them irresistible for a wide range of pollinators. Mellifere bees are particularly attracted to flowers open during the hottest hours of the day, while the bombs visit calendars from sunrise to sunset. The butterflies, such as the Vanessa Atalanta and the Pieride of the cabbage, find in the calendulas a source of constant nourishment for the whole flowering season. To maximize this benefit, it plants different varieties of calendula with scaglionate flowering periods, thus creating a “service station” continues for pollinators. In addition, avoid double or too elaborate flowers, which make access to nectar difficult.
Calendules are edible
Calendules are edible and can be used to prepare, for example, a good aromatic tea. You can even use calendulas as an edible side dish in salads and desserts; They offer a nice touch of color to the dishes. Obviously, it is important to consume only flowers on which you have not used any type of pesticide or chemical fertilizer.
Calendula petals have a slightly spicy and bitterly tasteful flavor, which vaguely recalls pepper and lemon. To prepare tea, use 2-3 teaspoons of dried petals per cup of boiling water and leaves to infuse for 5-7 minutes. Fresh petals can be added to mixed salads, omelettes, fresh cheeses and flavored butter. In the kitchen, calendula is known as “saffron of the poor” because its petals give a beautiful golden color to the dishes, similarly to the more expensive saffron. To dry the petals, collect them in the morning hours after the dew has dried, spread them on a towel in a ventilated and shaded place for 3-5 days. Then keep them in hermetic containers sheltered from light.
Calendula can help control snails
Plant the calendulas around the green leafy vegetables, so as to protect them from snails. It is likely that snails give up your vegetables and instead opt for the calendula. The advice is to plant the calendula around lettuce, cabbage and other vegetables in order to remove these animals.
This method works according to the principle of the “trap plant”: snails prefer the tender and juicy fabrics of the calendula compared to the most leathery leaves of many vegetables. The varieties of calendula with more fleshy petals, such as the Calendula Officinalis ‘Orange King’, are particularly effective. To obtain the best results, create a calendar border 30-40 cm from your main vegetables. Check the calendulas regularly and manually remove the snails that have concentrated there, preferably in the evening when they are more active. You can also place snail traps near calendar to catch them more easily. This method is particularly useful for protecting basil, lettuce, cabbage, spinach and other young brassicaceae.
Calendules attract ladybugs
The ladybugs are beneficial for your vegetable garden because they eat harmful parasites, like aphids. The latter can cause serious damage to your plants, which is why it is essential to keep them under control. If you don’t want to use chemicals and want a more natural path, try calendar.
A single ladybug can consume up to 50 aphids per day, and their larvae are even more voracious. Calendules attract ladybugs not only with their nectar, but also because they often host small populations of “sacrificial” aphids that serve as the first nourishment. To create an ideal habitat for ladybugs, plant the calendulas in groups rather than individually, and let some flowers go to seed to provide shelter during the winter. The most useful species include the Settempuntate ladybug (Coccinella Septempuncta) and the Asian ladybug (Harmonia Axyridis). In addition to aphids, the ladybugs also feed on mites, ladybugs and other small harmful insects. To keep the ladybugs in your garden, avoid the use of organic insecticides and provide shallow water sources such as sautéed with pebbles.
Calendules can help reject rabbits
Singing a border of calendula around your garden can help to reject rabbits, probably due to the strong perfume of the flowers. So you can also protect your vegetables.
The intense smell of calendulas, due to the terpenical compounds present in the leaves and flowers, is unpleasant for rabbits and other small herbivorous mammals. This aroma is more pronounced in TageTes varieties, such as TageTes Patula and TageTes Erecta. To create an effective barrier, plant calendula at intervals of 20-30 cm along the perimeter of the garden, creating a continuous protective “belt”. The repellent effect is greater when the plants are ripe and in full flowering. You can enhance this effect by also planting other unwelcome aromatic plants with rabbits, such as lavender, rosemary and sage, alternating them with calenduts. Remember that rabbits can get used to smells, therefore it is advisable to vary the seasonal repellents of the season in the season. This method is particularly effective for protecting carrots, peas, beans and lettuce.
Old flowers can be added to the compost
And calendula plants often bloom, and it is important to dampen the plants once the blooms are exhausted. You can add the old blooms to the cumulation of compost. These are still rich in nutrients and can add value to your soil.
They remove flies and mosquitoes
If you cry the calendar near the windows or on the windowsills, you will no longer have the problem of flies and mosquitoes. The reason? Calendula flowers emanate a strong smell that will make these annoying insects remove these.
The repellent power of calendar against flies and mosquitoes is mainly due to volatile compounds such as limenne and alpha-terpinene, which interfere with the olfactory system of these insects. The most effective varieties are those with more intense perfume, such as the Minuta TageTes (Mexican Calendula) and the Lucida TageTes. To maximize the repellent effect, place calendar vases on the windows of the most used windows, especially those of kitchen and bedroom. The repellent action is stronger during the evening, when humidity releases the essential oils more.
You can also prepare a natural repellent by macerating calendula petals in alcohol for a week, then filtering and vaporizing the solution in the rooms. This method is particularly useful in summer evenings and can significantly reduce the presence of flying insects without resorting to chemicals. To enhance the effect, it combines calendar with other repellents such as lemongrass, mint and sacred basil.
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