ITIS list Artemesia dracunculoides as a synonym of A. dracunculus. With A. dracunculus 'Sativa', the name Sativa is capitalized and in single quotes which means it is a man made cultivar of A. dracunculus, not a subspecies. So just guessing here but I would say, Russian Tarragon is A. dracunculus with a synonym of A. dracunculoides. French Tarragon is a cultivar of A. dracunculus, thus A. dracunculus 'Sativa'.

All right. Here is the first photo of the tarragon I am now considering to most likely be dracunculoides.



At this point I think I am going to grow it out in a container, and also put only one or two in the ground, not sure where yet.

Thanks, everyone, for the great information and for participating in this investigation!

The leaves look bigger than on my Tagetes lucida.

You know? They look bigger than on the pictures I've seen of that dracunculoides, too.

We shall see!

T. lucida

Greene, I hope you are right!

Catmint, if they're bigger than your Tagetes leaves, I wonder what the heck I've got, because from what I remember seeing, the dracunculoides leaves are very slim compared to these.

To be revealed, I hopw!

Kyla, found this as I was shopping at Burpee yesterday, says it is Mexican Mint Marigold or Spanish Tarragon, but no botanical name. It looks like the same one you were looking for, though. Maybe e-mail them asking for the botanical name? They charge a lot for a packet of seeds!

http://www.burpee.com/flowers/...

Elaine, this photo looks just like my Tagetes lucida!

Elaine, thanks, I think that is the Tagetes. I'm currently in negotiations with Catmint here for some of her seeds And I may also get some from Horizon Herbs, because I know they have good information and their seeds are good.

I'm resisting taking more pictures of what I've got growing yet, they haven't changed much. Since yesterday.

I think I'm going to grow these out in a big container. I was given four reasonably nice ones not long ago and I have to fill them with plants! With what I've lifted up when clearing the beds, and these, I almost have enough.

It's probably too early but I am looking at seed catalogs.

Anyway, I'll keep this thread updated with what I learn. We'll not know for sure til these ones bloom just what they are, I expect.

Kyla, I love monarda.

Catmint20906 said:Kyla, I love monarda.

We'll have to exchange mailing addresses soon, then. This Monarda is a pure white one, and (speaking of accurate IDs) all I know is that the person who shared the seeds tossed a wildflower seed mix out beyond her fence and that was one of the plants that "took". I'll have to see if she can give me more info, one of these days. She's one of the owners of a small local nursery I like to visit.

That sounds great, Kyla! I have a patch of new garden space where I planted my hibiscus last fall. This past spring, I emptied a couple packs of wildflower seeds into the patch. It was interesting to see what 'took' and what didn't. Mostly it was stuff that grows readily in this area anyway--so, eg lots of cosmos, not so much California poppy. It was kind of fun trying to identify it, based on the contents of the packages!