While driving into Chattanooga this afternoon I saw a beautiful, gigantic rainbow.  It was the biggest one I've ever seen, stretching all the way across the sky over the whole city, with one end in the Tennessee River Gorge and the other touching down somewhere beyond Missionary Ridge.  The colors were vibrant and shimmering in the late afternoon sun, and it lasted for a very long time, seemingly in no hurry to leave the beautiful landscape.

As I drove toward the end of the bow wondering about the pot of gold sitting there, I was reminded of the real pot of gold always within my reach, and that is where the inspiration for this edition of the newsletter came from.

Let me introduce you to the humble little workhorse, the pot marigold.  Don't confuse it with the garden plants we commonly call marigolds, which are of the Tagetes genus.  Pot marigold is an entirely different plant, genus Calendula oficinalis.  I've always known it as simply Calendula, pronounced kuh-LEN-joo-la.  It is a sweet, simple golden yellow flower native to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.  It is a sun-loving annual that grows well and is not very demanding,  It will reseed itself  and even help to repel insect pests both above and below the ground while brightening your garden and enhancing your health.  The flower that gives, and gives, and gives!

Calendula has a long history in herbal medicine.  Herbalists will call it a "vulnery", meaning that it promotes healing.  It does this by speeding up cell proliferation, or the growth of new cells.  Essentially it helps new tissue grow quickly to replace damaged tissue.  In other words, it makes wounds heal faster.  It is also a nice anti-inflammatory, so the combination is great for all kinds of wound care.  It's not a strong anti-infective though, so use it with lavender or another anti-microbial, because you want wounds to not only heal quickly, but to prevent infection as well.

The important part of the plant for our purposes is the flower.  Those little golden petals specifically.  They are edible and will brighten up any salad, and unlike most flowers, they will retain their vivid color through processing, so they have been used to color cheese, rice, or anything that is pale and can use a color boost.

To use Calendula, use a carrier oil such as olive oil to make an infused oil, similar to the jewelweed oil I described in last month's newsletter.  This oil can then be made into a salve, lip balm, or diaper rash ointment easily (remember that many diaper rashes are fungal, so a healing agent such as Calendula alone won't solve the problem.  An anti-fungal such as Tea Tree is a needed addition).  Or you can pour boiling water over the petals and let them steep for twenty minutes to make a tea.  This tea could be used to wash wounds, or as a mouthwash or gargle for mouth, gums, and sore throat.  You can even drink the tea.

Calendula  is considered safe and non-toxic with just a couple of exceptions.  It is a cousin to ragweed, so some allergy-prone people may have a problem with it, and it should not be taken internally during pregnancy, although topical use is safe.

I have a soft spot in my heart for this sunny little unassuming flower that can do so much good.  It won't grab your attention like a showy, elegant rose and it doesn't have a pungent aroma like lavender to make you fall in love with it.  You would probably overlook it growing in a home garden among the more spectacular plants.  But it is one of the most useful plants to have around, because it treats the most common afflictions that we all face day to day.

If you don't want to grow Calendula or make infused oils and teas, let me do it for you.  I use Calendula in three different Coyote Cove products.  Of course it is in the Healing Salve, combined with comfrey, lavender, and tea tree, to help any wound heal quickly and without infection.  It also works beautifully as a diaper rash ointment.  Calendula is also in the Eczema Cream, because of its anti-inflammatory properties.  I am using it now to help soothe the itch of a million chigger bites I got while backpacking last week!  And it is also in the Peppermint Foot Butter, to help heal the cracks that can develop in dry heels.


There may not be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but pot marigold is a real treasure within your reach.