Plant record
Marigold
Tagetes spp.
Marigolds are little lanterns in the vegetable bed. Useful, bright, and hard to regret.
Garden timing
Start indoors 4 to 6 weeks before last frost.
Direct sow after warm weather arrives.
Transplant after frost.
Plant intelligence
Use compact French or signet types on edges; give tall African types more room.
cut flowerpollinatorbeneficial insectedge plantcontainer
Lifecycle: annual
Habit: mounded annual flower
Height: 8-36 inches
Spread: 8-18 inches
Germination: 4-10 days
Sow depth: 0.25 inches
Bloom: summer, fall
Attracts: hoverflies, bees
Record score
91/100deep plant record
Taxonomy confidence94Tagetes spp. in Asteraceae; 2 cached source references.
Square-foot usefulness861 per square with none support.
Timing and care depth1003 planting windows, 55F minimum soil, 1 caution.
Species and variety drill-down882 variety or cultivar options attached.
Annual flower intelligence90moderate pollinator value.
Source readiness82Ready for 4 external lookup paths.
Species identity
This record is anchored to a stable botanical name, then adjusted for square-foot garden decisions.
ScientificTagetes spp.FamilyAsteraceaeLookup namesMarigold, Tagetes spp., French marigold, African marigold, signet marigold
Garden decision matrix
Square-foot fit1 per square
Season behaviortender
Care loadmoderate water
Bed ecosystem rolecut flower, pollinator
Variety depth2 options
Species and variety notes
Signet types are airy and edible; French types stay tidy; African types are bigger show plants.
Bonanzaseries
86small-bed fit
Reliable edge color without crowding vegetables.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
French, compact, bed edge10-12 inches tallGemseries
70small-bed fit
A softer marigold for herbs, tomatoes, and path edges.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
signet, edible petals, airy10-14 inches tallCompanions
tomato, pepper, bean, basil
Cautions
Deadhead for steady bloom.
External enrichment
Cached name: Tagetes spp.. Optional lookups can compare GBIF, iNaturalist, Perenual, and Trefle without changing the reviewed garden record.
Open enrichment JSONData layers
FVF reviewed cachecachedSpacing, timing, variety, companion, and FVF notes used by the planner.
GBIF and iNaturalistlive no-keyNo-key taxonomy, common-name, and community context checks through the enrichment route.
USDA PLANTS downloadsreferencePeriodic identity, distribution, native status, and conservation reference layer.
Perenual or Trefleoptional keyOptional species images, care data, cultivar/synonym cleanup, then cache only reviewed fields.
API source score
Perenual API88/100optional key: Flower and ornamental drill-down, plant photos, care flags, toxicity, bloom data. Limit: Requires an API key and plan-aware caching, so it should enrich records without blocking the app.
Trefle API84/100optional key: Scientific names, subspecies, varieties, hybrids, synonyms, and broader botanical cleanup. Limit: Requires a token and should be treated as a reviewed import layer, not a live page dependency.
USDA PLANTS downloads82/100download cache: Standard names, plant symbols, distribution, native status, and conservation flags. Limit: Best consumed as periodic downloaded data instead of one-off runtime requests.
GBIF Species API78/100live public: Accepted scientific names, synonyms, family/genus cleanup, and occurrence context. Limit: Not a gardening advice source; pair it with local square-foot growing data.
iNaturalist taxa API72/100live public: Common-name discovery, taxon IDs, and regional biodiversity context. Limit: Observation data is not the same thing as garden suitability or crop timing.
USDA PLANTS Database
Plant identity, taxonomy, nativity, and conservation flags.
Source referenceCornell Vegetable Growing Guides
Crop-specific vegetable growing guidance.
Source reference