Hello,

This is my second year with growing marigolds from seeds.

1) I'm not sure about this, it will become more clear this year when I am growing seeds collected from last year.

2) Germination rates are good on marigolds. I'd say mine are 75-85% .

3) I am yet to see evidence of this. In fact, last year I had a row of African marigolds growing on the border which got savagely munched by something, I have no idea what. They were supposed to repel pests and critters but something feasted on them. to where I was only left with stumps.

4) You can make dried garlands with them. Mine have played a part in a love story :) so I plant them every year and always will.

I've been growing marigolds in the gardens for years. I like them quite a bit. I pull seed heads in the fall and plant seeds in the spring. I've got some spots out in the garden that self sow in at this point since I've planted so many out there over time. I also grow calendula, and that has self sown even better than marigold has. I bet some cross, it's how new kinds are made. But if they do, I don't notice, I grow colors I like. I don't think the tall small bloom Ground Control crosses much with the shorter fluffier marigolds. Or at least I haven't gotten noticeably crossed garden seed from Ground Control yet.

Critter protection. I can't call on that one. I grow other companion plants in the gardens too. So while marigolds have a role, I can't clearly define it seperate from the other things I grow and do. While insects leave them mostly alone, other critters don't. Marigolds are tasty, and many of the furred critters know it. Deer, rabbits, squirrels, possoms, chipmunks at least.

Marigolds are edible. They make pretty tea and colorful addition to salads. Not appreciable to making an alcohol or vinegar with, the flavor is too delicate. They can be used to dye food- and also makes a lovely natural dye for cloth. Calendula in particular has medicinal properties. I grow Resina for the high resin content. Good for salves, but not so tasty.

In order to save seeds, I grow only one variety of each species of annual such as marigolds, and I select and save seeds from the ones that grow well or have a color or features that I like. So for marigolds, I select for bright saffron-orange color and pull out those that bloom brown, so now almost all that come up have the color I like.

I haven't found the companion planting thing to work at all for repelling pests: pests go straight to the plant they like and don't mind what other plants are nearby.

I do still plant polycultures, growing a mix of flowers, herbs and salad greens all around the garden next to other plants, but for other reasons.

1) Biodiversity makes a more resilient ecosystem, so the desirable pest predators and pollinators have something to eat and somewhere to stay at all different times of the season, and also if one crop fails, 15 others do fine.

2) The flowers, herbs and salad greens self-seed so I thin them out and occasionally transplant them to a better spot, but mostly let them grow, and they grow earlier than what I plant.

3) At least the herbs and salad greens tend to produce and be finished by the time big things like tomatoes or cucurbits need the space. Flowers like marigolds can be less accommodating, getting big and starting to bloom just when the major plants need the space, so I've been trying to plan and give them more space.

The flowers I've been allowing to self-seed or keeping seed from are: cornflowers / bachelors buttons, marigolds, calendula, cosmos (I'm growing only a bicolor variety), snapdragons, edible chrysanthemums (I'm selecting for the bicolor white and yellow ones), and zinnias (selecting for red to purple ones), and Dracocephalum moldavica (also a culinary herb). The edibles I've been allowing to self seed or collecting seed from are: red butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce, rocket/arugula, red orach, mustard green, claytonia, dill, coriander/cilantro, summer savory, and probably others that I'm not thinking of at the moment. Basil hasn't self-seeded for me so I plant it, and parsley can be aggressive (deep roots) so I plant only one in a place where it can stay all year.

' I bet some cross, it's how new kinds are made '. Just to clarify, in case people are wondering, this statement would only apply within the genus Tagetes. Calendula cannot cross with Tagetes, although both are called 'Marigolds' in common parlance. The two are only very distantly related, both being in the same family, Asteraceae.

I've never had calendula cross with the fluffy marigolds. They aren't supposed to since they are different. But since I put different colors of the fluffy ones in the same general areas in the garden, I wouldn't be surprised if they had some crossing going on. I just don't notice if they do since I tend to grow a bunch of colors I like. If there are crosses in there I can't tell the difference between them and the original parent seed. Sorry if my previous post read like I meant the calendula and fluffy ones might cross, I didn't mean it like that.

Yes, as I said above, it is botanically impossible for Calendua to cross with Tagetes. I just wanted to make clear the difference between the two genera which are both called 'marigolds' in common parlance. That's the big problem with common names. I've even seen online articles about Tagetes which are illustrated with a pictures of Calendula.

Marigolds do not act as a pest deterrent. As a matter of fact, they attract more than their fair share. Mites, yikes! It is said that deer will avoid them because of their strong odor, but I can’t speak to that.

The one exception is that certain species of Tagetes can control specific plant parasitic nematodes but only if grown in solid blocks for a season, then harvested.

Though the flowers are cheery, I stopped growing marigolds because they require deadheading on a frequent basis or the blooming ceases. I’m not interested in doing that in the heat of the summer.

Be sure to research good practices for saving seed. Best practices will result in better results.