I need low growing Calendula this year
 

Last year I grew marigolds from seed, with a mix. Some of the plants were very tall and I didn't enjoy that. It totally wrecked the look I was going for.

What variety of marigolds grow low to the ground and have all the benefits of calendula? I want to save parts of the plant for making salves and stuff.

TIA

Re: I need low growing Calendula this year
 

Are you talking about marigolds that look like daisies or the kind that have loads and loads of ruffled petals? I've only grown the ruffled petal sort. African marigolds (the tall ones that look like pompoms) aren't a whole lot of use that I know of. It's the French varieties that are shorter and do more good in the garden. Not familiar with the daisy-like calendulas, though, sorry. Any good seed catalogue will tell you the height of the average, mature plant. Maybe try a different seed company?

Re: I need low growing Calendula this year
 

Maybe I need to try the seen catalog route. :think I just bought what they had at the Home Depot last time and it was a mix of daisy looking ones and more pom-pom looking ones. I'd never seen that variety before they sprouted up in my garden. LOL. I thought they were all pom-poms. :doh

So next question, where does every one buy their seeds?

Re: I need low growing Calendula this year
 

there is a pretty big baker creek cult following here:shifty

Re: I need low growing Calendula this year
 

haha: giggle It took me a minuet to figure out that must be a seed catalog/company. I kept rereading my title to see if I might have accidentally made a typo that would make people think of some pop-artist or something. I guess I thought it was a Beiber joke at first. See, my knowlege of pop culture is so bad that if something doesn't instantly make sense to me, I assume it must be a pop culture joke.:lol

So baker creek...off to google.ty.

Re: I need low growing Calendula this year
 

I buy primarily from Veseys.com (PEI) and Stokes.com (Ontario), but I'm in Canada. I've ordered from other seed companies, too, but these are my go-to catalogues. Even if you don't buy from them, both have a lot of information about varieties that are common across various seed sellers. Stokes has the most detailed growing information I've ever come across from a seed catalogue. :tu By the way, if you want to stick to organics, don't dismiss companies that aren't soley orgainic out of hand. Most catalogues sell both conventional and organic seed and do a darn good job of handling them separately (I've received Veseys orders in two entirely separate boxes before with organic in one box and conventional seed in the other, though most commonly my seed packets are grouped into organic and conventional and packed in separate, sealed plastic bags.) If you can, look for a catalogue company that is a seed *grower* as well as a seed seller.

---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 PM ----------

I forgot to say why you want to stay away from box store seed racks. Reputable catalogue sellers tend to have seed storage facilities that store seed at optimum temperature and humidity levels. Because these companies sell not only to home gardeners, but to market gardeners and small farmers as well, they have various germination guarantees they need to uphold. They NEED to sell good seed to stay in business. Box stores have no interest in the quality of the seed they have out on the racks. Whatever doesn't sell this season is tossed in the back room in who-knows-what sort of conditions until next spring when they're thrown out on the racks again. You don't know how old the seed is that you're buying and you have no recourse if the seed is bad.