French Marigold, Dwarf Marigold, or Dwarf French Marigold

(Asteraceae [also known as Compositae] - Daisy Family)

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• Form
  • small herbaceous annual
  • maturing at 6" to 12" tall by 8" to 18" wide, depending upon cultivar
  • mounding clump growth habit, becoming spreading by season's end

• Culture
  • full sun to partial sun
  • best performance occurs in full sun in moist, well-drained soils; however, it is quite adaptable to poor soils, heat, humidity, and especially drought, but not adaptable to shade or wet sites
  • propagated by seeds
  • Daisy Family, with a few diseases and pests, which usually do not cause problems of ornamental significance
  • abundantly available in flats or seed packets

• Foliage
  • dark green, dull shiny, usually opposite, pungently fragrant when bruised, and to 6" long
  • the leaves are actually simple, but deeply sinuate to the midrib to the point of appearing pinnately compound, with each lobe having coarse serrations that are tipped by aromatic glands

• Flowers
  • vivid hot hues of yellow, orange, reddish-brown, maroon, and blended mixtures thereof, in bloom from May until the first hard freeze (they are tolerant of light frosts)
  • single- or double-flowering, with the long peduncles prominently swelled just beneath the showy 0.5" to 1.5" wide inflorescences, composed of petal-like ray flowers surrounding the central disk flowers
  • single flowers have widely spreading "petals", but double flowers have mounding "petals" in the shape of globular button mums

• Fruits
  • seed heads are abundant and quite noticeable, detracting somewhat from the continuous showy flowering, and are ideally sheared off (dead-headed) to promote enhanced flowering (but this is rarely done)
  • seeds will lightly self-sow from one season to the next

• Twigs
  • stems are initially upright, but due to their repeated branching will spread and mound, becoming procumbent by season's end and quite spreading

• Trunk
  • not applicable

• ID Summary
  • the pungent, pseudo-pinnately compound, dark green, dull shiny leaves occur oppositely along grooved stems that are much-branched, with showy small composite flowers that are typically bright yellow, orange, mahogany, maroon, or combinations thereof, with prolific Summer-long bloom into mid-Autumn

• Function
  • edgings, beds, mass plantings, or containers

• Texture
  • medium texture
  • thick density

• Assets
  • profuse Summer flowering in warm to hot colors
  • many cultivars available, differing in floral colors and compactness
  • extreme drought and heat tolerance
  • dark green and cutleaf foliage
  • can be used as cut flowers

• Liabilities
  • most cultivars exude a slight malodorous scent when sited in mass plantings (usually not noticed except on calm, humid nights), from the characteristically pungent (or strangely fragrant) foliage and flowers; this is much more evident when individual plants are brushed against or bruised

• Habitat
  • annual that dies with a few hard freezes
  • native to Mexico and Central America

• Alternates
  • drought-tolerant annuals (Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum, Catharanthus roseus, Pelargonium x hortorum, Petunia x hybrida, etc.)
  • profusely-flowering, relatively short annuals (Impatiens wallerana [shade], Nierembergia hippomanica, Petunia x hybrida, Zinnia angustifolia, etc.)
  • annuals with yellow, orange, or red hot-colored flowers that are easily noticed from a distance (certain cultivars of Celosia cristata, Helianthus annuus, Helichrysum bracteatum, Pelargonium x hortorum, Petunia x hybrida, Salvia splendens, Tagetes erecta, Zinnia elegans, etc.)
  • companion perennials of similar hot colors (certain cultivars of Coreopsis, Crocosmia, Gaillardia, Heliopsis, Hemerocallis, Hibiscus, Kniphofia, Lilium, Rudbeckia, etc.)

• Variants
  • many individual cultivars, series, hybrids with other species, or other species exist of Tagetes patula, primarily selected for floral color or bicolor, floral size, single or double flowering, earliness to bloom, continuous flowering during heat, fragrance versus pungence, and overall compactness or low-branching
  • Tagetes erecta - African Marigold or Tall Marigold- a bigger species, with cultivars ranging from 1' to 3' tall, with much larger (but fewer) flowers and foliage, and usually double flowering; ideal for cut flowers or back-of-the bed planting
  • Tagetes tenuifolia - Signet Marigold - a smaller species, having ferny, fine-textured foliage that is very fragrant and sometimes used as an herb, with many miniature flowers on 8" tall plants; 'Lemon Gem' (lemon-yellow flowers) and 'Golden Gem' (golden-yellow flowers) are two of the more common cultivars

• Translation
  • Tagetes is named for Tages, an Etruscan diety who sprang from the plowed earth.
  • patula translates as "spreading", referring to its growth habit by the end of the growing season.

• Purpose
  • French Marigold is a tough annual noted for its heat and drought tolerance, with bright, showy, warm-colored flowers all season long.

• Summary
  • Tagetes patula is known as a popular annual for dry, sunny spots with prolific flowers of yellow, orange, mahogany, or maroon, contrasting well against the dark green cutleaf foliage, and performing exceptionally well in poor, dry soils.