Useful and Easily Grown Flowers for Garden and Greenhouse
Tagetes(Tage’tes ) are yearbook of smashing ornamental value during the summertime and fall month . They are indigen of Mexico and South America and belong to the Daisy family , Compositae . The name is said to have been derived from a mythological divinity , Tages . These Marigolds are quite distinct from thePot Marigold or Calendula . See Calendula
The two chief character of Tagetes are the African Marigold , Tagetes erecta , and the French Marigold , Tagetes patula . The former reach a tiptop of 2 - 4 foot . and bears large , single or double flower of orange or icteric food coloring ; the latter acquire from 9 in . to 2 foot . high and the bloom are scandalmongering , or yellow label with reddish - brown . In recent yearshybrids between the African and French varietieshave been developed . In gain , two other species of Tagetes are produce ingardens , T. lucida , the mellisonant - sweet-scented Marigold , and T. tenuifolia ( signata ) .
The African Marigoldsare represented by legion handsome treble assortment which bear tumid , roundedflowers in orange and various shadesof yellow , on strong theme . They are passing useful ingarden bedsand boundary line during the summer months . Much feat has been spent in attempt to develop a white - flowered variety and while not yet successful some modern varieties have pallid creamy yellow-bellied heyday .
In altitude ofplants and form of flowerstheir is considerable variation and group of varieties are designated in seedsmens ’ catalogs as Carnation Flowered and Chrysanthemum Flowered . There are many other mixture with bloom in a not bad number of distinct physique and frame , and some , even , with odorless foliage . If the plant life are well grown they will last in bloom until trim down down by icing , andprovide brilliant masses of color in the gardenin autumn . They are useful as cut flowers .
When to Sow Seeds
The African Marigolds may be raised from seeds sown about 6 calendar week before the industrial plant are to be planted outdoors , in a greenhouse in which a temperature of 50 - 55 degrees is maintained . The seeds are sown in pot or flatcar filled with siftedsandy ground ; they are light covered with similar soiland the containers are plow with trash and shaded from sunshine . If kept moist , the seeds will germinate in a few days .
When the seedling are 1 - 2 in . high , they should be transfer to flats , 3 - 4 in . thick , fill up with a sandy , loamy compost ; they are placed 3 in . apart . They should remain in the flats until it is time to plant them out of doors after peril of frost has elapse and the atmospheric condition is warm and settled . For two or three week after transpose to flat the seedlings should be kept in the greenhouse to assist them to become established quickly . Subsequently , they are grow in a stale frame and , as the meter for planting draw well-nigh , they are hardened off by ventilate the soma more freely , and finally are fully exposed to the air .
It is also quite practicable togrow African Marigoldsby sowing the seeds in the locations where the plant are to remain , but the works obtained by this method will not bloom quite so early as those raised under glass . The seeded player are sprinkle thin in a well - prepared seedbed outdoors as before long as danger from hoarfrost has go by , and the seedling are thinned out until they are not less than 10 in . apart .
A location fully exposed to the sunshine must be chosen for the African Marigolds ; they are not a success in funny place . It is a mistake to set them in very rich soil , or they will make membership , exuberant outgrowth at the disbursement of flower production . They should be plant 12 - 15 in . apart .
The French Marigolds . The potpourri of these diverge in tallness from 6 - 24 column inch . The grandiloquent ones are useful for grouping towards the front of flower margin and for the output of gelded flowers ; the very dwarf ones are commonly used for edging flush beds . There are both double - flowered and individual - blossom varieties .
Among the dwarfer varietiesNaughty Mariettais popular . It has robust gold - yellow heyday beautifully marked with brownish - ruby-red . The single flowers of Red Head have a crested nub of chickenhearted and maroon and fence in petals of mahogany , bronze and atomic number 79 . cheery has unmarried , bright yellow flowers marked with cerise at the base of the petals . Ruffled Red has mahogany - red flower inch with jaundiced . All these are single - flowered varieties . Of the dwarf double French Marigolds , some of the good are Spry , maroon with shiny lucky centers ; Tangerine , bright tangerine - orangish ; Lemon Drop , clear lemon - yellow ; and Yellow Pygmy , with midget , sluttish yellow chrysanthemum - like flowers . There are single forms of the tall French Marigolds , but these are not so popular as the dwarf kind .
French Marigolds demand the same general cultural care as that detail for African Marigolds . They may be started in a nursery or raised from seeds sown directly outside . If sown directly outdoors the seedling develop quickly , provided they are kept moist . They must be thinned out in good time to give them every opportunity to break sturdily .
It is a misunderstanding togrowthese plants in too rich a soil , for they will make vigorous growth but will not bloom very freely . Neither is it judicious to institute them anywhere except in full sunshine , for in shade or fond wraith they become very leafy , and their blossoming is dissatisfactory .
African-French Hybrid Marigolds
A race of hybrid between the African and French Marigolds , invoke in America in late years , are named Burpee ’s Red and Gold Hybrids . As yet the air is not fixed and theplants vary in the color of the flowersthey green groceries . Some are whole red , some upstanding yellow , others various combinations of red and golden - yellow . blossom people of color vary on the same plantsat different menses during the season . The flowers are double , 2 - 3 in . in diam ; theplants are shaggy-coated and growabout 18 in . tall .
These African - French Hybrid Marigolds require the same culture as their parent case . They blossom throughout thesummer and hang and are skillful slashed flower . Because the pains is not set up a few honest African Marigolds usually appear among the seedling . Even while they are very small it is easy to segregate these from the hybrids because the African eccentric has unripe stem whereas those of thehybrids are cherry . The African Marigolds commonly spring up taller than the crossbreed and should be planted separately .
Other Kind of Tagetes
A Tagetes of very decided appearance and of great charm and usefulness is T. tenuifolia ( signata ) pumila . In recent years this has beenlisted under the nameof Dwarf Signet Marigold . It is a aborigine of Mexico and forms a wide , shaggy-coated flora 1 ft . or less tall . It has fine divided foliage and bears a multitude of single , golden - orange flowers about 1 in . in diameter , each with but few ray of light florets .
Tagetes tenuifoliavariety pumila involve the same ethnic concern as the dwarf French Marigolds and , like them , is a excellent subject for planting in chemical group at the fronts of borders , for jazz and for lay out out as edging to flower beds .
The Sweet - scented Marigold , Tagetes lucida , is an attractive species from Mexico that does not appear to be very much cultivated . It grows about 1 ft . tall , hasfragrant leaf and carries its gilt or orange - yellow flowersin dense concluding cluster . It requires the same cultural concern as the other form .
In Greenhouses
All kinds of Tagetes are utilitarian plant for growing in greenhouses for wintertime and bounce video display . They are elegantpot plantsand are also useful as cut flower . Some seedsmen offer special winter - flowering varieties which bloom freely even when day are short and get down less intense than in the summertime .
One of the good of these is called Lieb ’s Winter Flowering .
For winter flush , the seeds should be sow in August or September ; forspring bloom , sow them in January . The seedlings should be transplanted to flats , or individually to small Mary Jane , and later potted in larger receptacles as ask . locoweed measuring 5 - 7 in . in diam are satisfactory sizes in which to allow theplants flower . Goodresults may be had by growingeither one or three plants in each pot .
The soil for Tagetes grow in greenhouses should not be overrich but it should bewell drain . When the plants have filled their final gage with ascendant , weekly applications of dilute melted fertiliser will be of gravid benefit .
At all times these flora must be exposed to full sunshine and should be bring home the bacon with airy , rather cool condition . A night temperature of 50 degree is ample ; on dull Clarence Shepard Day Jr. the temperature may uprise about 5 stage and on sunny twenty-four hour period 10 or even 15 point .
By supplementing daylight withartificial light(either of the fluorescent or incandescent kind ) earlier and more flowers can be obtain from Tagetes grown in greenhouses in winter .
