Calendula – this lovely plant always reminds me of the sun when I look at it, with its bright, cheerful orange and yellow flowers. It’s also one of the easiest plants to grow, and one of the most versatile. It's a veritable medicine chest in itself!

Best known as a remedy for skin problems, the flower petals can be used for making a healing salve to apply externally to cuts, wounds, and burns. It can also be taken internally as a tea or tincture to help speed healing of wounds, and for detoxification support. Calendula is a great antifungal; the cooled tea can be used as an effective douche for vaginal yeast infections.

Calendula is also lovely as a massage oil – infuse the freshly dried petals into almond or apricot kernel oil and let them sit for a few weeks to extract out their healing properties. Add your own favorite essential oils and ~ voila!