I winter sow Marigolds of the Tagetes Series every year. They go in their containers no earlier than mid-March and sometimes I will not do them until April. Our freezes may pass early May and it is definitely sweater weather all month. Actually, sometimes we still have pockets of snow left in the woods in early May.

Germination is always good. I will not get blooms as early as if I bought in the stores, but plants grow well and bloom like gangbusters when they start.

So my suggestion is for you to sow them late March and go from there. I don't think these guys will object when they find them in your gardens...

{{gwi:344891}}

Thanks for that beautiful photograph. There are some marigolds I like, but many I don't enjoy--these are nice and simple.

I wintersowed French marigolds last winter (from Rene's seeds), good germination, the plants themselves thrived, but they seem to have been infested by some sort of small green worm. It seemed to be inside each bud--and there were lots of buds--so that when they opened they were feeble and sad looking. So I thought I wouldn't try them again. Maybe I won't take my own words of advice after this inspiration!

Sarajill,

I grow only the Tagetes because they bloom like the dickens, have such bright colour - come in orange and yellow - are great nectar sources for butterflies, bloom through a couple of frosts, etc. I only grow the simple ones because here the big flowering kind will not flower properly with our fog and cool summers.

I am surprised about the insect you experienced because Marigolds are known to repel 'bad' insects from the gardens and gardeners have used them to do so for eons.

Sarajill -

Maybe this one? :
"Tobacco (Geranium) budworm feeds on flower buds and may cause petunias, geraniums and other annual flowers to stop blooming. Tobacco budworm can also be found on ageratum, bird of paradise, chrysanthemum, gardenia, mallow, marigold, snapdragon, strawflower, verbena, and zinnia. Oftentimes droppings, sometimes described as small black seeds, are seen before the worms are noticed. On close inspection, small green-to-brown colored worms can be found nibbling small holes in flower buds and leaves. If left alone, the plant can be thoroughly eaten. Treat with a Bt product (Bacillus thuringiensis) such as Dipel or Thuricide, carbaryl (Sevin) or permethrin" .

And, I Spring sow marigolds here. They don't germinate for me until things warm a bit, I don't find reason so sow earlier.

Sorry - 'don't find reason TO sow earlier'.

That what a rare-here November snow will do to me :) I've been outside moving pots into the carport, covering iffy plants with upended buckets, dahlias and others with fir and cedar branches for some added protection against the temps forecast between now and Wednesday. This is harsher than usual cold for us - and I wasn't ready for it.

OP is in zone 3, I'd be cautious about wsing too early. I could be wrong, but, I've never known marigolds to self-sow anywhere? Zone 3, is like, really cold, ya know.

:)

In this Z8, my neighbor saves the spent flower heads, and in mid April crumbles them over where she might like them to grow. Same with Cosmos. She will have a few marigolds come up, many more Cosmos.

We often don't have frost past early to mid April, but to be totally safe with senstive bedding plants like green house impatiens, Mothers Day is the magic fool-proof date :)

morz8 - hope you're warm & dry. I saw the blizzard reports on Yahoo! and thought of you. Be safe!

Gardenweed, thank you for the kind thoughts! Most living in harsher winter climates might laugh at this...but a weather event like this one is so uncommon here none of the cities are prepared with enough street/freeway clearing equipment on hand - it would spend too many months parked to justify the purchase.

We're OK in my small town, we have power and 4-wheel drive to help the neighbors out. My sis though left her Seattle office at 4 PM yesterday for what is about a 45-60 minute commute depending on traffic and pulled into her driveway at 11:30 PM. She'd been at the wheel 7 1/2 hrs trying to get past slide outs, pile-ups, stalled cars on hills.

This is supposed to clear by Thanksgiving afternoon, I have all I need for the holiday dinner minus ingredients for an appetizer or two, nothing critical.

My biggest upset yesterday was realizing I had three hummingbirds about dusk in my yard - in snow. I put a feeder out at 6 AM this morning and they've been happily filling up all day long, seem to be OK if they can just get through one more night in the low 20's.