Marigold

Marigolds (genus Tagetes) are fast, dependable annuals that flower nonstop from spring until frost in warm gold, orange, yellow, and mahogany tones. Compact French and taller African (American) types are the most common.

Their ferny, strongly scented foliage is part of their charm and is said to help deter some garden pests, making them a staple of companion planting.

Easy from seed and tolerant of heat and poor soil, marigolds are a go-to flower for beginners, children's gardens, and vegetable plots alike.

Identify a marigold by:

• Flowers: Dense, rounded, often double pompom or carnation-like blooms in gold, orange, yellow, and red-brown.
• Foliage: Deeply divided, fern-like leaves with a distinctive pungent scent when crushed.
• Habit: Bushy mounded annual, from compact 6-inch French types to 3-foot African types.
• Stems: Branching green stems that may become slightly woody at the base.
• Bloom: Continuous flowering all summer until frost.

Marigolds are among the easiest flowers to grow.

• Light: Full sun for the most abundant blooms.
• Water: Water moderately, letting the topsoil dry between; avoid wetting foliage to limit disease.
• Soil: Tolerant of most soils, even poor ones, with decent drainage.
• Temperature: Warm-season annual; sow or plant after frost danger passes.
• Feeding: Minimal; rich soil can produce leaves at the expense of flowers.
• Propagation: Very easy from seed; deadheading spent blooms keeps plants flowering.

Tagetes species are native to the Americas, particularly Mexico and Central America, where they grow in sunny, open habitats. They have deep cultural roots in Mexico, where they feature in Day of the Dead celebrations.

Now grown worldwide as warm-season annuals, marigolds are popular in gardens, containers, and vegetable plots, and are cultivated commercially in places like India for festival garlands and as a pigment source.