Marigolds: Complete Guide to Growing These Cheerful Annuals

Close-up of an orange marigold.

Angela Altomare

Where to buy marigold seeds and plants: Burpee Gardening

No annual is more cheerful or easier to grow than marigolds. These flowers are the spendthrifts of summer, lavishing gold, copper, and brass across gardens all season long. Their popularity stems partly from nonstop blooming from early summer to frost.

Marigolds have daisy-like or double, carnation-like flowerheads, produced singly or in clusters. Though ~50 species exist, garden marigolds derive mainly from three:

• Tagetes erecta — tallest (3–5 feet), known as African or American marigolds.
• T. patula — bushy French marigolds, smaller and compact (6 inches–2 feet), elegant with demure flowers.
• T. tenuifolia — dainty signet or rock-garden marigolds, loving hot, dry sites, perfect for edging. Flowers are edible.

Marigolds offer tremendous variety beyond stereotypes; some have fantastic fragrance; all excel in containers and as long-lasting cut flowers.

Planting Marigolds

• Marigolds need full sun.
• They grow in almost any soil but thrive in moderately fertile, well-drained conditions.
• Direct-sow once soil warms, or start indoors 4–6 weeks before last spring frost.
• Seeds germinate easily but watch for damping off indoors.
• Separate seedlings at ~2 inches tall. Grow in loose soil flats or transplant to garden.
• Space tall types 2–3 feet apart; lower growers ~1 foot apart.
• For containers, use soil-based potting mix.

Care and Maintenance

• Germination is rapid; blooms appear within weeks of sowing.
• Deadhead spent blossoms for profuse, continuous bloom.
• Water thoroughly, then allow soil to dry somewhat before watering again.
• Water at the base—never overhead.
• Don't fertilize. Rich soil stimulates foliage at the expense of flowers. Marigolds bloom best in poor soil.
• Densely double African marigold heads tend to rot in wet weather.

Pests and Diseases

Marigolds are famous companion plants—their scent repels animals and insects, while underground they repel nematodes (microscopic worms) and other pests for up to 3 years. They're especially valuable as deer-resistant plants.

Marigolds themselves are hardy but may suffer gray mold, bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew, Alternaria leaf spot, damping off, and root rot.

Harvest and Storage

• In arrangements, strip leaves below water line to reduce pungent odor.
• Dry for lasting arrangements: strip foliage from perfect blossoms, hang upside down.

Wit & Wisdom

• In the late 1960s, Burpee president David Burpee campaigned to make marigolds the national flower—roses won.
• Farmers have long included open-pollinated African marigold 'Crackerjack' in chicken feed for darker egg yolks.
• Marigolds are an October birth flower.

Cooking Notes

• Bright signet marigold petals add color and spicy tang to salads and summer dishes.
• Petals cooked with rice impart saffron's color (not flavor).
• 'Mexican Mint' (Texas tarragon) — sturdy herb substituting for French tarragon; long used in Latin America for tea and seasoning.