Monday 28 January 2013

MARIGOLDS

Tagetes is a genus of 56 species of annual and perennial mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae or Compositae). The genus is native to North and South America, but some species have become naturalised around the world. Depending on the species, marigold foliage has a musky, pungent scent, though some varieties have been bred to be scentless. It is said to deter some common insect pests, as well as nematodes. Tagetes are hence often used in companion planting for tomato, eggplant, chili pepper, tobacco and potato. Due to antibacterial thiophenes exuded by the roots, tagetes should not be planted near any legume crop. Some of the perennial species are deer-, rabbit-, rodent- and javalina or peccary-resistant.

This post is part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme.


4 comments:

  1. These are just gorgeous! Pretty soon I'll be out buying a new supply of these to plant in my garden. And yes, they seem to help control the insect population in the garden.

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  2. I've planted them frequently over the years but have never noticed any reduction in pests, although I now they're touted for that quality! So I still plant them but only for their beautiful color!

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  3. They're such hardy flowers! In Holland they like the color orange anyway, because of the royal family, so that's where I've seen them..and of course here in California.

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  4. A vivid splash of orange! Nice shots of a beautiful flower. Thank you for sharing them on Mandarin Orange Monday:)

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