African Marigold — Flowers

Tagetes erecta

Full sun, light watering — frost tender — shelter over winter.

Photograph of African Marigold — USDA PLANTS images via EOL

Sow: Apr
Plant out: May
In flower: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Sun: Full sun
Water: Low
Difficulty: Demanding
Hardiness: H2
Season: summer,autumn
Height: 100–150 cm
Spacing: 50 cm
Pets: Safe around pets

Grows well with

Cucurbits — African marigolds dotted between cucumbers, courgettes and squash are often said to deal with root-knot eelworm. Trials of that intercropping found no effect on the eelworms and a smaller crop; the roots do release a strong eelworm-killing chemical, but only a thick, whole-bed planting grown before the vegetables makes use of it.Squash and pumpkins — In a trial, African marigolds sown with squash raised the numbers of the insects that prey on aphids, and the crop was slightly better for it.

Growing notes

Grows to 1-1.5 metres. Space about 10-50cm apart. In flower Jun-Oct.