The Japanese Beetles made a bit of a comeback this summer. Their waning numbers over the past couple of summers had lulled me back into growing large-flowering marigolds. They LOVE to devour large marigolds.
‘Garland Orange’ grows 36 to 42 inches tall with 3-to-4-inch flowers. I didn’t appreciate having to pull scores of beetles off those flowers every day in July and into the first part of August, but ‘Garland Orange’ is a heavy bloomer so there were plenty of flowers for all us to enjoy–I just wasn’t eating my share.
To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of orange marigolds to begin with, but ‘Garland Orange’ has such a great growing habit for a tall marigold that I can’t resist growing it. And it makes the perfect anchor for the back of an annual border.
This cultivar really earned my respect after my plants survived back-to-back severe thunderstorms with straight-line winds. I expected to find a mass of broken stems everywhere, but other than the fact that the plants were leaning way over like every other plant in my flowerbeds after those storms, there was no major damage.
Sometimes some of the flowers get a little top-heavy and droop over–especially after a heavy rain– but I’ve seen much worse cases with other marigold cultivars.
‘Garland Orange’ is a bumblebee magnet, and the plants will bloom right up until a killing frost if you keep them deadheaded.