French Marigold — Flowers

Tagetes patula

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

Photograph of French Marigold — CalPhotos via EOL

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

Sun: Full sun
Water: Low
Difficulty: Demanding
Hardiness: H2
Season: summer,autumn
Height: 10–50 cm
Spacing: 50 cm
Pets: Safe around pets
Bee friendly: Bee friendly

Grows well with

Runner Bean — Marigolds are often grown by runner beans for their strong scent, which is said to keep aphids off the crop.Cabbage — In a trial, cabbages grown with marigolds took less damage from cabbage looper and imported cabbageworm caterpillars.Cucurbits — 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. Marigolds only work on eelworms grown thickly as a whole-bed crop for about two months before the vegetables go in.Squash and pumpkins — In a trial, squash and pumpkins grown with French marigolds took less damage from squash bugs and cucumber beetles.Potato — Marigolds are often said to keep Colorado potato beetle off potatoes. Trials did not find the effect, so do not rely on it.Tomato — Plant French marigolds among your tomatoes and whitefly numbers build up more slowly. The marigolds give off limonene in the air, and whitefly move away from it.

Growing notes

Grows to 0.1-0.5 metres. Space about 10-50cm apart. In flower Jun-Oct.