After last week’s hard freeze, I gave up on trying to maintain anything else in the garden. Now I’m just letting things go, waiting for the appropriate day to do some much-needed garden clean-up, and seeing if maybe the radishes and lettuce and arugula grow enough to actually eat them. So far, no good.
One plant that’s been rocking and rolling is one of our marigolds. It’s probably the one that was best placed, at least for getting sunlight and air and water—most of our other marigold plants were subsumed by zucchini leaves or cucumber vines.
Marigolds seem to be like the cilantro of the gardening world. I keep reading bloggers who hate them with a passion usually reserved for fascist dictators, but then I’ll read a post or two about someone who actually likes them. Me? I’m falling in the I-like-‘em camp, mostly because the yellows and red remind me of the Spanish flag, which reminds me of tapas and pollo asado. Also, they’re bright, even on the gloomiest Iowa days, and even after most everyone else’s summer flowers have faded away. Also, they don’t really smell like anything to me, so all those people who whine about how much they stink? I don’t believe you. Sorry.
The bees have been big fans of the marigolds since we put them in, too. I went out in the garden on Sunday afternoon to get some of the falling leaves out of the lettuce bed, and even though the forecast wasn’t calling for anything above 58 degrees for the day, there was a honeybee, dipping in and out of flowers, although at about a third of the speed of the summer bees. I’m not done yet, it seemed to be saying. I’m not letting go, no matter how hard it freezes.
on Oct 20th, 2006 at 7:39 am
speaking of bugs…..My husband found a hornworm on a twig right outside of our dining room window. We waited for some brighter sunlight to get a picture, but he disappeared. We did not squash him. We don’t have anything we care if he eats at this point. Did you know they turn into “HummingBird Hawk Moths” ? They are huge and totally look like birds.
I love the marigolds. THe kids and I planted seeds inside of empty feild greens plastic boxes to use as greenhouses last winter and planted them this spring. I like the way they smell. Especially after it rains.
on Oct 20th, 2006 at 11:56 am
It’s usually too warm in my parts for merigolds, but I love their color.
on Oct 20th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Beautiful picture. I love marigolds–everything about them in fact.
on Oct 21st, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Cole, I figure time’s running short for hornworms and all warm-weather-loving bugs. But I do hope it manages to get its moth on — those sound pretty cool!
Al, they really do have gorgeous color, and I’m amazed at how many varieties there are.
Sher, thanks — I really like them, too.
on Oct 29th, 2006 at 11:03 am
I love marigolds too. They were the longest surviving annuals in my garden this year. We’ve saved a ton of seeds for next year. Could there be an easier plant to save seeds from? I think not!
on Oct 29th, 2006 at 11:19 am
Gremlin, I didn’t save any seeds from ours, and finally took out the marigold plant this weekend…it finally gave up the ghost. But I’m definitely planting more next year — they’re great flowers.