French Marigold Spanish Brocade
Tagetes patula Spanish Brocade -- French marigold; half-hardy annual
Bushy compact mounds of ruffled mahogany-red and gold flowers — the French Marigold that's both spectacular ornamental and a serious organic companion plant.
About this variety
Ruffled fully double heads in deep mahogany-red, every petal edged in gold, on bushy compact plants at 25 to 35cm. The pattern is where the name comes from, and close up it does look like woven fabric.
It is the one to grow round the tomatoes, and it is worth being straight about why. The roots release a compound that is genuinely toxic to root-knot nematodes, and that part is well established, though it works best where marigolds have been grown as a dense block for a full season rather than as a few plants dotted about. The claim that the pungent foliage confuses whitefly and aphids is a good deal thinner, and it is no substitute for dealing with an infestation. Grow it because it earns its place either way.
As a plant it is close to foolproof. Germination in five to seven days, flowers from June to the frosts, and a compact habit that shrugs off heavy summer rain rather than going soggy and flattening, which is more than most double flowers manage. Deadhead it or it slows down, and protect the young plants, because slugs are very fond of them.
Plant alongside
French Marigold Spanish Brocade pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics
