Flowers & companions
Marigold
Companion rows and cempasuchil; plant in Apr.
- Outside
- Sow or transplant in Apr, after frost
- Where
- Bed edges, among tomatoes and peppers
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Even while young; drought-tolerant after
- Harvest
- Bloom Jun to Oct, deadhead for more
Care
- Water
- Keep the sowing damp while seeds sprout and seedlings root; after that marigolds shrug off dry spells, and a deep soak when the bed has dried a knuckle down is the whole program. They are heat plants here and ask little even in August.
- Sow
- Direct sow a quarter inch deep in April, after frost, or set nursery six-packs the same month; the Central Texas list plants them with the warm season. Thin French types to eight to twelve inches and give the tall African types real span.
- Feed
- A light feeder content in average or even lean soil: a shovel of compost worked into the spot at sowing is plenty. Skip the liquid feed and the stand still flowers clear to frost.
- Ready
- Deadhead the spent heads and bloom runs to frost; let heads stand to set seed and the stand winds down, reseeding itself for next spring instead. For the altar season, cut fully open African-type heads ahead of November and keep the petals dry.
- Trouble
- Slugs and pill bugs go for the seedlings in the first couple of weeks; a dry, mulch-free collar around each start gets them through. In a reseeded stand, thin the spring volunteers and move the ones that landed badly.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 1–5 gal bag.
- Water
- A container dries faster than the bed; check it daily in summer, water until it runs from the base, and give it afternoon shade in the worst heat.
- Feed
- A light monthly top-dress keeps the bloom coming; marigolds stay modest feeders even in a container.
- Sow
- Sow direct in April, a few seeds per container, thinned to the strongest one or two.
Marigolds carry two jobs here: companion flower and cultural centerpiece. The French types edge the tomato and pepper rows from June to frost, and the African types grow the cempasuchil petals for the November altar season.
Growing
The Central Texas annual list carries both marigolds: African types (Tagetes erecta) for spring-summer bloom, French types (Tagetes patula) carrying bloom into fall, both full sun and both reseeding, with an African marigold counted among the state's Texas Superstar picks. Plant them with the warm season, in April after frost, and they take the summer the tomatoes merely survive. The French plantings hold the edges of the pepper rows as the companion crew; the African stand is the cempasuchil crop, petals cut ahead of the November altar season. One Texas-adapted cousin belongs to this entry: Mexican mint marigold (Tagetes lucida), the heat- and drought-tolerant perennial that Texas Master Gardener guidance profiles.
Varieties
The Texas sources sort by type, African and French, not by cultivar; pick by flower size and height at the rack, since no cultivar name carries a recommendation here.
In the kitchen
Cempasuchil petals are the harvest: the altar first, and after that a scatter of petals over rice and salads. Mexican mint marigold leaves do the anise-flavored herb work in the kitchen when the annual marigolds are only petals.