General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Annual
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly acid (6.1 – 6.5)
Neutral (6.6 – 7.3)
Slightly alkaline (7.4 – 7.8)
Plant Height: 1 to 4 feet
Plant Spread: 1 to 2 feet
Leaves: Fragrant
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: Orange
Red
White
Yellow
Bloom Size: 2"-3"
3"-4"
Flower Time: Summer
Late summer or early fall
Fall
Uses: Medicinal Herb
Cut Flower
Will Naturalize
Edible Parts: Flowers
Dynamic Accumulator: P (Phosphorus)
Wildlife Attractant: Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Pollinators: Various insects
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil

Image
Common names
  • African Marigold
  • Aztec Marigold
  • Mexican Marigold
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Tagetes erecta
  • Synonym: Tagetes patula

Photo Gallery

Date: 2020-10-04
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2015-05-26
Location: Gardenfish garden
Date: June 1 2020
Location: Aberdeen, NC (my garden 2023)
Date: April 18, 2023
Aztec Marigold # 208 nn; LHB p. 1013, 194-58-4, "From 'Tages', a
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: October 2010
Tagetes patula attracts butterflies like crazy!

Huge bloom!
Location: My garden
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2018-07-14
#pollination
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2014-09-19
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Date: October 2011
Marigold seeds
Location: Lowe's Scottsdale AZ
Date: 2016-02-21
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2008-04-28
Location: In my zone 8 garden
Date: April 30, 2015

Date: 2009-12-18
Credit Alexey Sergeev
Photo by Jai_Ganesha
Photo by robertduval14
Location: Lowe's Scottsdale AZ
Date: 2016-02-21

Date: 2013-08-26
Location: Brownstown Pennsylvania
Date: 2016-11-16
This variety has a single row of approx 9/11 petals is called "Bu
Location: Vladivostok, Primorsky Kraj, Russia
Date: 2010-08-14
African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-01-18
'Dwarf Sparky Mix'
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2013-01-18
Grown from seed
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2018-05-11

Date: 2021-04-10
Mexican Marigold seedling
Location: Silver Spring, MD
Date: 2014-06-11
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2015-08-24
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2014-08-11

Date: 2011-06-27
Courtesy Outsidepride
  • Uploaded by vic
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-03-23

Courtesy Outsidepride
  • Uploaded by vic
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2013-08-27 
More popping up in a flower bed this year. I planted a few packet

Date: 2017-05-22
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2014-07-31

Date: January
credit: Prenn
Location: Vladivostok, Primorsky Kraj, Russia
Date: 2010-07-17
African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2014-08-01
Location: central Illinois
Date: 2014-08-01
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-03-23
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2013-08-27
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2012-11-03
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2012-11-03 
Either a gift from the birds, or perhaps mistakenly mixed in seed
Location: Northeastern, Texas
Date: 2018-05-11
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Aug 22, 2014 6:56 PM concerning plant:
    Last year I found Tagetes erecta sprouting in different spots in my garden: in a flower bed circling a palm tree as well as many little ones popping up in the lawn. I'm assuming birds presented a few seeds to my yard, because although I've known about Marigolds for many years, I'd just never thought about them one way or the other. They just seemed to be a ho-hum plant to me and I'd never grown them. Anyway, I left the ones growing in the bed around the Palm tree and decided to transplant the ones growing in the grass to another bed. They've been prolific all summer with constant blooms, and I must admit ... African Marigolds are growing on me. Smiling
  • Posted by Catmint20906 (PNW WA half hour south of Olympia - Zone 8a) on Aug 1, 2014 8:56 PM concerning plant:
    Tagetes erecta is an important companion plant that reportedly helps to repel rabbits, aphids, whiteflies, cabbage maggot, corn earworm, Mexican bean beetle, some nematodes, and plum curculio.
  • Posted by Marilyn (Kentucky - Zone 6a) on May 24, 2013 11:33 PM concerning plant:
    "Tagetes erecta, the Mexican marigold, also called Aztec marigold, is a species of the genus Tagetes native to Mexico and Central America. Despite its being native to the Americas, it is often called African marigold. In Mexico, this plant is found in the wild in the states of San Luis Potosí, Chiapas, State of México, Puebla, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz. This plant reaches heights of between 20–39 inch. The Aztecs gathered the wild plant as well as cultivating it for medicinal, ceremonial and decorative purposes. It is widely cultivated commercially with many cultivars in use as ornamental plants.

    Since prehispanic times, this plant has been used for medicinal purposes. The Cherokee used it as a skin wash and for yellow dye. Scientific study shows that thiophenes, natural phytochemicals that include sulfur-containing rings, may be the active ingredients. They have been shown to kill gram negative and gram positive bacteria in vitro. This marigold may help protect certain crop plants from nematode pests when planted in fields. It is most effective against the nematode species Pratylenchus penetrans."

    Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

Plant Events from our members
antsinmypants On May 5, 2021 Seeds sown
Indoors under lights. Glenn
piksihk On December 20, 2020 Harvested
Red color
piksihk On November 16, 2020 Harvested
seeds 'mari-mum' that was from test garden; yellow color;
Don't think original plant was Mari-mum, too small blooms
WebTucker On April 17, 2023 Obtained plant
WebTucker On April 17, 2023 Bloomed
» Post your own event for this plant

Discussion Threads about this plant
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Calendula? by Danita Aug 17, 2015 8:30 PM 2

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