Here are my tagetes erecta " Cracker Jack." Today the measurement is 56 inches. No new growth observed. The St. Francis statue is just over 24 1/2 inches.




This year is probably my tallest year. The Marigolds in this area have been self seeders for a couple of years now. The ones I sow from collected seed are in the background of the above second and third pictures.

I have about 5 kinds including yellow, gold yellow, gold orange, orange, and an unusual one a little more yellow than the picture...

I have promised some seed to some regular readers of my garden photo thread. If you pop over there and let me know you would like some seed, anytime, in the next 4 weeks or so I would be glad to send you some in the fall. The nicest one is the tall yellow, lots of big flowers.

May you be blessed with a wonderful week!

What is that white flower?

Evelyn-- if you mean my last picture-- It is a Giant Marigold. It is not as white as the picture more of a yellow color. Lighter than what most people think of a yellow Marigold being. I can not get a truer picture of its color due to its location. It is also in the clump of marigolds in the picture next to it, but it is not as yellow as it appears in that picture either.

May you be blessed with a wonderful day!

My volunteer marigold has gotten a bit larger. About 28" now. I think I will save some seeds. It is really too large for a deck planter (and that's my largest planter), but it would be spectacular to have a dozen in the flowerbeds, around the mailbox, and to give to a few neighbors!

Yardenman-- I would not mind trading you some of my Marigold seeds for some of yours this fall!

Mine are all solid colors, yours is a lovely two tone. Is it a deal?

Many blessings for your continued success!

Altheabyanothername said:Yardenman-- I would not mind trading you some of my Marigold seeds for some of yours this fall!

Mine are all solid colors, yours is a lovely two tone. Is it a deal?

Many blessings for your continued success!

I already have 2 flowerheads drying. I would be glad to send you a dozen or 2. But be aware I have no idea what the seeds will grow. For all I know, the seeds could be sterile.

Send me some of yours (whatever is easy in amount, 6 are fine) and a self-addressed envelope. And that goes for anyone who wants any til my supply runs out.

Tree-Mail me...

@Yardenman please delete your address right away! Personal info is better exchanged in a tree mail! I will send a tree mail with info.

Many blessings for a wonderful day!

Done. Anyone who wants some seeds of the huge marigold, tree-mail me. There will be plenty. No promises about it. It is just a strange volunteer. For all I know, the seeds are sterile. But if you want to try some...

Hi to Charlie, just happened across your posts here and I had similar experience last summer with Cosmos seeds I'd planted. They grew way beyond the norm expected. When they finally got to flowering, the centres weren't dense and the petals were sparse. I needed to actually stake them!

What it was believed to be, was the result of Curly Top Virus. Wondering if this is what has/had your Marigold in its grips?

Sorry, just saw your post.

Hi Carole. Like you, was quite an adventure with our giant marigold. We never did get viable seed formed but had no reason to think the plant itself wasn't healthy.

Interested to hear of your experience with cosmos; think they're very pretty annuals. I know that there's quite a size range among the cosmos that different seed strains produce. Sorry to heard that your giants had signs of a disease. I hadn't heard of Curly Top Virus, but it's apparently transmitted by a leafhopper.

I'm pretty sure, as others suggested, our giant was simply bought as the result of a misplaced greenhouse seed of a giant variety. As said, I'd think it was an otherwise healthy giant.

SunnyBorders said:Sorry, just saw your post.

I'm pretty sure, as others suggested, our giant was simply bought as the result of a misplaced greenhouse seed of a giant variety. As said, I'd think it was an otherwise healthy giant.

well that was a good news story --- a little of the unexpected in the mix

I snipped off all the flowerheads and rubbed them gently over a large bowl to separate the seeds from most of the coatings. I must have over 5,000 seeds.

I have no idea what they will do next year, but they are refrigerated in a sealed jar. If anyone wants some (no certainty about fertility) tree mail me. I'm not in the seed business, so I'll want a SASE.

As an update, I did a test planting of this huge marigold in cels under lights, 3 seeds per cel. I got about 33% germination. Not great, and I don't know what the seedlings will produce yet. But I have a good pint of seeds.

If anyone wants to try any, just let me know in Tree mail. I'll be glad to send a couple spoonfuls in a plastic bag in a SASE and wish you good luck. The ones that germinate seem pretty healthy so far.

Update... I seedlings are 6-8" high now and trying to bloom. I'm snipping off the flower buds to encourage larger plant growth. Time to plant them in deck pots and around the mailbox frame between the stella d' oros.

Hello The Internet, I'm so glad you guys are already talking about giant marigolds! I'd like to humbly introduce my friend Mona, the giant marigold.
About three years ago I got seeds for several different types of marigolds, some wildflower blends, and sunflowers. Most of them died out, but one breed of marigold is thriving here in my FL garden. I've reseeded marigold descendants from that original planting for 3 or 4 generations.
Mona grew from a seed produced by the 2nd or 3rd generation. You can see her brothers and sisters in the photos, Mona is not like them.
The rest of my marigolds grow about 8" tall and begin producing flowers. They also branch at the base of the plant, near the ground.
Mona grew about 18" tall before she started to branch. She developed a densely packed spiral of leaves which grew straight up (to 18") and then divided into symmetrically arranged copies of that original structure.

She's now huge. Her stalk is thicker than my thumb by a lot. We've had some tough rainstorms and she's a little crooked these days, but she still measures 36" vertical height. And she shows no blossoms...

I'm getting worried that Mona is some sort of mule mutant and may never produce flowers... but if she does, you guys, if she does... well, I guess I'll let change know


Anybody ever seen a marigold like Mona?

@stroodies,

You have one heck of an amazing plant in Mona. I can tell that you love her.

I have never seen a marigold like her! Looks like you take good care of her!!

Cheers!!

😀

Mindi

It made me think that Mona has some kind of fasciation on her stem, (is it seems wider, or ridged at the upper stem?). it would be interesting to propagate the plant, hopefully it is genetic and will appear again in the future..

       Hi. I'm usually found over on the veggie forums, but I am not as familiar with annuals and this looked like a good place to ask about Marigolds.
       Every two years or so I try another variety of yellow African marigold and the results are similar. I get nice plants 18-26" high that have one or two good-looking blooms apiece but the flowers brown and wither after a month or so. I dimly remember many years ago (in another city) growing some marigolds that were bushy like fall mums and had many flowers on them, but that was before I started keeping records and I can't find anything like that in the catalogs now. Can anyone suggest a bushy yellow marigold? (I'll reluctantly go with a mix if I must.)
       My second question is about the short life. Is that to be expected or am I doing something wrong. I only lightly fertilize once upon transplanting, and water only when it hasn't rained for 4 days or so. The soil is slighty acidic. If there are no long-blooming Marigolds, I guess I could try replacing the original flowers with a second planting 6 weeks or so after the first one to extend the season.

My friends,

I believe my marigold [giganticum] takes the price. She is about 7 feet tall and growing. She is just now coming into flower and had been transplanted from a tiny seedling in mid May. I saved her (grand)mother(s) from The Day of The Dead festival in Mexico, in 2017. They were the short standard golden marigolds. I transplanted them into a pot, took mediocre care of them and then they were left to their own devices for about 1 year when I left the country. On my return in May, I cleaned the dead debris from the pots and let whatever was green grow, spreading out the marigold seedlings into 4 pots. They are all tall (at least 4 feet) but she's the tallest.

Nobody mentioned this, but those giant marigold plants could be exhibiting 'fasciation'. Where stems and leaves get overly large and thick. It's a genetic mutation but not a different species.