Dee,
First of all, I find that to have them last at all, they need to be fully open, but to have JUST opened. And even then, you don't get the vase life of a zinnia or aster. I don't use them very often, even though they are orgeous flowers, and easily re-seed themselves all over the place. I mainly just use them in our exhibiton where they don't have to last more than 4 days.
Cheryl

Hydrating solution is essential for this one. And, did ya all read about the sugar pulse solution for flowers?

Thanks, guys. Funny, the reason I included calendulas in the garden is because I read that they have a long vase life. Sounds like it's kind of tricky to cut these at just the right time. I'm not sure I'm ready to do hydrating solution just yet. Don't know if I'm ready to have several buckets full of different solutions to swap out and so forth. Maybe next year, after I get a bit more accustomed to the routine of cutting, etc.

Thanks so much for your help!
:)
Dee

I was surprised by comments above. We rarely cut flowers but one day I picked a Calendula, almost open, and stuck it in a vase. It looked good for almost a week and at 7-8 days is still not yet disgusting, ugly.

I too, find my calendulas to have a long vase life. However, I planted three varieties and only have one I use for cutting as the stems of the others are too short. Maybe it's the variety? I like "Radio".