All Marigolds, Indian, African, French and English, have healing qualities, as well as being useful and beautiful companion plants for the organic garden. Marigolds are natural insecticides. Their wonderful, sun-like vibrant orange flowers are delightful, therapeutic, and energizing to behold. If you have marigolds in your garden, you will have colour in your garden throughout the year if you live in New Zealand, or places which have a similar temperate climate.
Marigolds Are Treasured In India: A Hindu friend told me once that, in her home town in India, Marigolds were one of the most lovely flowers that one could take to honour the Gods at the Temple of Krishna.
The English Marigold, Calendula officinalis, is a wonderful healing and protective flower with a great history. It is thought to have been brought to England from its native India well before the 13th century. The Marigold is thought to have been named in England in honour of the Virgin Mary.
Marigolds can be used in cosmetics to enhance the skin, in hair rinses to enhance the shine of the hair, in salads as a colourful and healthful condiment, and in herbal relaxing teas.
John Gay, who was born in 1685, the same year as Bach, Scarlatti and Handel, and who died in 1732, was an English poet and author of ‘the Beggar’s Opera’: He makes reference to the Virgin Mary, and refers to the rich golden colour of the Marigold in his centuries old poem, ‘Pastoral’ when he asks:
‘What flower is that which bears the Virgin’s name. The richest metal added to the name?”
Shakespeare also wrote of the marigold, saying that ‘the Marigold goes to bed with the sun and with him rises weeping’. Charles the First apparently was mindful of the Marigold and its sun-worshipping attributes when he was imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle, saying that ‘The Marigold observes the Sun….More than my subjects me have done’.
These historic references quoted above are taken from the book by Josephine Addison, entitled ‘The Illustrated Plant Lore’, published in 1985, Guild Publishing, London. About birthday flowers, Josephine says that the 15th January is the date for the English Marigold, and that the 29th May is the date for the French Marigold.
Well, the lovely Marigold flower is a great plant to put amongst your garden flowers for its beauty and therapeutic value , and in amongst the vegetables, to keep insects at bay and add colour to the vege patch.
All Marigolds Possess Natural Insecticide Qualities. The ‘Tagetes’ variety, which are the French and African variety, are supposed to be the most potent, but the English Marigold is also good. Because of a strong odour which comes from the roots, Marigolds are thought to be great to plant grow amongst root vegetables. Put it in amongst the potato crop. The odours from the root works as an insecticide to keep eel worm away from the growing potatoes. Beans, tomatoes and roses also benefit from having Marigolds planted amongst them. The Marigold is also helpful in keeping white butterflies away from cabbages and other Brassica vegetables. Apparently the Mexican beetle stays well away from beans which have Marigolds included in the planting.
Brenda Little, in her book called ‘Companion Planting in New Zealand’, New Holland Publishing, Auckland, New Zealand, 2000, reports how an organic gardener friend of hers has one motto with regard to companion planting: ‘Plant marigolds with everything’ is his advice to the organic gardener.