Your post seems to be a description of Tagetes minuta known by some as the Mexican marigold. Interestingly the species name refers to the size of the flowers.
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love to get a few seeds from your giants

Ah, is that the kind you smoke?

OK. I've got a picture of the 8 ft monster. They all just started to bloom recently. We had to tie it to the tree behind it so it wouldn't fall over.

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That's not working real well as a front-of-the-border plant, is it.

I can't explain it - maybe someone else can :) It's not t. minuta though, flowers are too large.

They look like Crackerjack Marigolds which can top six or seven feet, so I'm not surprised you've got some that are taller.

Having now seen an image, morz8 is right about them not being T. minuta. They really are quite amazing, I'm wondering if gardenoob grew these from seed and if so, what variety was used?
trudi_d , I thought that Crackerjack maxed-out at around 4 ft?

Alright, we finally found the original seed packet. It is called Marigold Crackerjack(as trudi_d said), mixed colors, and they are half-hearty annual. It is made by Ferry Morse and I bought it at Home Depot. The 8 ft giant has seemed to stop growing, but the tallest one next to it is still growing steadily.

Yes dogdaze3001 I did in fact grow them from the seeds and I made sure I watered them nearly every day.

By the way, the back of the packet mentions that the plant height is 3 ft(It doesn't say maximum though).

gardenoob, you may well have something special there. Are you going to save the seed? It may also be a good idea to contact Ferry Morse and inform them of what you've got.

They look funny, so tall and skinny with a little bunch of flowers on the top. I've never seen marigolds like that before. Maybe your soil has something funky going on with it, or the water...lol...JK! They are intriguing.

Karen

I wonder if I have a few Mexican Marigolds myself! Or Crackerjack... this flower confuses me, lol! For two years straight now, our marigolds haven't exactly reached that stunning 8 feet (and growing!!) that yours have, but they have easily grown slightly over four feet. They aren't like those bushy, yellow marigolds- they are multi-colored and very spindly, and grow like weeds. I wonder if, aside from certain varieties growing very differently, seeds that were re-planted right from the last plant tend to grow more wild. I love marigolds- you keep 'em in the pot over the winter and they'll grow some new ones come spring all by themselves. ;)

My My My. Wow! I plant marigolds every summer, and ive never seen THAT! I will be on the hunt for crackerjacks!
Thanks for the picture!

I too, have some extremely tall Marigolds in my garden outside of my bay window. They are amazing! I've never seen these type of Marigolds that grow so large and beautiful. Mine are currently at 4 feet and still growing. Love them ❤