Calendula ‘Flashback Sunshine’ really does bring a burst of sunshine to the garden:
The cheery, golden-yellow flowers have a reddish-brown center and dark red undersides. The plants are happy in full sun or part-shade.
It used to be that calendulas were more of a cool-season annual that flared out once summer really kicked in, but breeders have been working on making them more heat tolerant. The calendula cultivars I grow have all thrived during the often-oppressive days of July and early August.
The only exception was last summer when we had a prolonged period of temperatures in the upper 90s and low 100s. Some of my calendulas did mount a protest, and they stopped blooming until cooler (if you can call 80s cooler) temperatures arrived. But then again, most of the other annuals I grow did the same thing.
‘Flashback Sunshine’ grows 18 to 24 inches tall. My plants sometimes reseed themselves, but it doesn’t even come close to setting off the nuisance meter. The plants will bloom all summer until frost if deadheaded.