I've said before that I failed to appreciate marigolds growing up. It's nice to have something that does so well in my garden, year after year, and draws butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. I can't remember the last time I bought marigold seeds, these have been producing in my garden for so many seasons. I love that they're such a rich red-orange-gold. I might want another color this year, but I've got plenty of seeds for these!
Over Thanksgiving break, my middle kid deadheaded this whole bed and filled a bucket, so I have more than enough seeds to share this year! I pulled a big handful apart and set them to dry on newspaper for a few days, and then put them in a jar until I had time to make a packet.
I found a seed packet template here. A blank template was all I needed; printed one, drew a simple outline of a marigold with fine pen, and copied it. Each image was hand colored with my Prismacolor pencils - saves printer ink and makes them all one-of-a-kind! and blend the pigment with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. I cut them out, made some folds, glued the back over the bottom and side tabs, and set it to dry. Once the glue was dry, I filled the packet about half full with seeds (a third full probably would have worked better) and glued the top down. I didn't write growing instructions on the back, but they are very easy to grow in Colorado. The back says "from Karen's garden, 2022" so I will remember when I saved them.
What seeds do you save??
I also failed to appreciate marigolds growing up -- and continuing for most of my life! But your beautiful photographs and story of your love for them makes me want to reconsider.
ReplyDeleteAh what a sweet comment. Thank you!!
DeleteI really like marigolds - always so hearty and colorful! Where I live the deer & rabbits don't care for their scent, so they don't start disappearing. Yours are really thriving. I'm going to have to plant more this year! Thanks for the encouragement to do that!!
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