Marigolds are one of the easiest flowers you can grow. You can plant the seeds directly in your garden after the soil has warmed in the spring. And because bunnies don’t like the taste of marigolds, you don’t have to fret that your new seedlings are going to get nibbled to nothing.
One of my favorite marigolds of all time only came on the market a few years ago. ‘Moonstruck Yellow’ has 5-inch, bright-yellow blooms that attract Monarch butterflies like crazy. The bushy plants grow 15 to 18 inches tall and can handle whatever Mother Nature throws at them. They don’t flop, they don’t snap and they don’t droop. And the length of their blooming season is unreal. I’ve had flowers still appearing in November. As a bonus, the petals grow so tightly together that they are practically Japanese Beetle-proof.
If you’re looking for a showy, small-flowering (French) marigold, give ‘Durango Yellow’ a try. This cultivar has also bloomed into November for me whether I deadhead the plants or not. Bushy ‘Durango Yellow’ grows 10 to 12 inches tall, and just a few plants will spread nicely to cover a bare spot in the front of your flower or vegetable garden. Durangos also come in several other colors including red, orange and bi-colors.
If marigolds can be a little too hot and flashy for your taste, you can try the toned-down ‘Alumnia Vanilla Cream’. The flowers are a soft butter-yellow that blends nicely with cooler flower colors like pinks and whites. ‘Alumia Vanilla Cream’ is a French marigold that grows 10 to 12 inches tall and is easy to nurture from seed.
All of these cut-above-the-rest marigolds are disease- and drought-resistant and will bloom from early summer into late fall with little care.