Greg Polkosnik’s "A Garden of Annual Delights"

Marigold

During this year’s garden tour, several visitors to my yard inquired about a lovely annual I had planted around the base of a new shrub rose. I was more impressed by the rose, since it was new to my garden and already thriving. Nevertheless, I told everyone who asked that the plant they were admiring was called a gem marigold. “That’s a marigold?” many of them replied.

Gem marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia) or dwarf Signet marigolds have been around for years. Like many garden plants however, they’ve become fashion victims along with many of their marigold cousins. People just don’t plant marigolds like they used to. It’s unfortunate, because marigolds adore Edmonton’s weather. As long as they are regularly watered, they can bake in the sunshine all summer long. They’re remarkably heat-tolerant—just don’t confuse that with drought-tolerance. They also love to be fed on a regular basis, much like geraniums.

The advantage of planting gem marigolds is that the small, dime-sized flowers are produced in profusion on compact plants that make a splendid edging in most borders. Although the plants will benefit from some deadheading, I’ve discovered that a well-fed gem marigold produces its new blooms just above the old ones, concealing the finished flowers.

Another benefit of using gem marigolds instead of other varieties is that slugs have a difficult time getting onto the ferny foliage. They might try, but they don’t succeed. So, the gem marigold is an ideal plant along the lawn edge where the slugs have an easy time entering our flower beds.

Gem marigolds are increasingly difficult to find in local garden centres. Look for ‘Orange Gem’, ‘Lemon Gem’, ‘Tangerine Gem’ and ‘Red Gem’. Thompson and Morgan sells seeds for a variety called ‘Starfire’ that I would be thrilled to plant in my garden. They grow about 8 in. by 8 in. in our growing season, and perhaps a little larger if the first frost comes late.

------------------------------------

Note: In 1964, the marigold was chosen as Edmonton’s floral emblem. In 1966, the EHS entered a marigold float in the Edmonton Exhibition parade, the centrepiece of which was a giant flower made of individual marigolds. Read more in your copy of A Century of Gardening in Edmonton, published by the EHS and distributed free to all EHS members in this our Centennial Year.

(Originally published in Gardener's Gate, October 2009.)