Calendula Pink Surprise

Not a colour most people associate with calendula. 'Pink Surprise' flowers in cream and pale apricot with a pink flush along the petal edges, and no two plants come out quite the same. Some lean cream, some lean distinctly pink.

That variability is the point. A row of it gives a soft, shifting range rather than the block of orange a normal pot marigold delivers, which makes it far easier to place next to pastel annuals and grasses.

Grow it as you would any calendula, on poor ground in full sun. Deadhead hard through August and it will keep going into October. The petals are edible, though the colour is prettier than the flavour is remarkable.