Annual / color · North Texas care guide
Tagetes erecta & patula
Nursery Pro tip: Old-fashioned, tough, and the fall crop is spectacular. Deer avoid the smell.
Gold, orange and yellow pompons from spring to frost, on plants from 8 in French marigolds to 3 ft African types. Cheap, fast, dependable, and the scent that makes them less interesting to rabbits and deer.
Full sun; any bed with drainage. Space 8–18 in apart depending on type.
April after the last freeze, and again in August for a strong fall show — marigolds are one of the best fall annuals here, blooming right through October. Root Stimulator at planting, light mulch.
Weekly at the base. They tolerate dry spells and dislike wet leaves.
Light feeding at planting and once midsummer; too much nitrogen makes leaves instead of flowers.
Deadhead regularly — a marigold left to set seed slows down. Shear leggy midsummer plants by a third.
Spider mites in hot dry weather are the main pest — check the undersides and hose them down. Botrytis turns spent flowers to gray mush in a wet spell; remove them. Slugs on seedlings.
Borders and vegetable-garden edges with zinnias, salvia and vinca. The classic fall bed is marigolds with garden mums.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.