marigolds

Why plant marigolds with your vegetables?

Tagetes, the scientific name for marigold, is a must in your garden for multiple reasons!

  1. They are edible! The flowers and tender leaves are said to taste either mildly citrusy to spicy. Even if you don’t care to eat them, they are an excellent garnish for salads or veggie dishes and make a bright and colorful addition to any plate.
  2. Marigolds are good companions in the vegetable garden. They have compounds in their roots that can kill some of the bad nematodes in the soil.
  3. Marigolds’ scented leaves deter sucking insects, such as aphids.
  4. They attract pollinators.
    –AND—
  5. They may survive the freeze that the tomatoes don’t. We just had a freeze here on April 12, and the tomatoes didn’t make it. So sad! I knew I was taking a chance but the unseasonably warm weather in late march encouraged me to take the risk

Urban Farmer carries Tagetes erecta (cracker jack marigold) that typically grows to 18” tall. I have grown crackerjack that grew 2 – 3’ tall. Park Seed Co. has a new marigold called Whopper. It’s orange or yellow and grows to 18” tall. Park Seed boasts that this variety is tolerant of botrytis, the scourge of many marigolds.

Marigolds are easy to grow from seed, and are compact and bloom until a frost. Grow in sunny borders, beds, and containers.

The dwarf varieties to the taller variety, tagetes erecta, are beautiful cut flowers with strong stems and colors from yellow to orange and brown.