Thursday Seeds | Find Your Marigold

The subject of marigolds lends the question of are you a gardener. In the gardening world, Marigolds are just that, gold.  They help in the garden immensely in specific ways. There are specific bugs and creatures that are repelled and attracted to this plant.

The “bad” bugs are attracted to it so it saves other plants from infestation. Squirrels like to eat it. I’ve watched squirrels pull the blooms off in their hands and eat them like they were a delicacy and not the prevalent flower in the garden that they are.  And as fond as they are of them, deer don’t care for them. If you are looking to repel deer, marigolds should be on the list to plant. 

If we look at the general subject of bugs in regard to marigolds, there are those that really are on both sides of the fence.  We could drill down into the one that love it like lady bugs, hover flys, parasitic wasps that are all beneficial for the any garden as a whole. But they also attract those “bad” bugs like cut worms, leaf hoppers, cabbage worms, and aphids.  Lady bugs love aphids. That’s a win/win.  This bloom also repels mosquitos. (Though I would not rely solely on this plant for this point, they don’t harm the fight against them.)

Some of the other garden plants that you could easily benefit from planting away from are beans, broccoli, and fruit.

What do Marigolds do for the soil specifically? Maybe regardless of what is planted near, they tend to adapt to poor soils. They also guard against root nematods as well as root aphids. 

The pH of soil between 6.0 and 7.0, which is neutral, are the optimal soil levels to consider if you fertilize.  Other things to consider are temperatures. What garden zone are they known to thrive in and how do they do in the opposite conditions.

Basically this is a plant and bloom that fosters and encourages balance in the garden. Balance being the state of things and encourage being the verb of things. 

If we carry this metaphor into life, pick your housemates and be sure to have some marigolds. Some close by and others at a distance.