We were given some Mexican Marigolds (Tagetes erecta) as part of a house-warming present at the end of June and they have just started to flower. I’ve grown other types of Tagetes before, but not this one. The plant is a tender annual and needs to be grown from seed under cover in the spring and planted out after the last spring frosts.

It’s an attractive plant when in flower, with quite open yellow-orange daisy heads. (Tagetes is in the family Asteraceae, the daisy family.) There are various varieties, including the orange flowered “Inca Orange” recommended by the RHS.

Tagetes erecta has various medicinal uses, as well as having an insecticidal effect on soil nematodes. The Plants for a Future website gives more details of these. Its flowers are a commercial source of a yellow dye, lutein (E161b), which is also present in many vegetables. Lutein is found in the macula of the eye and it is thought that consuming vegetables containing high levels of lutein may prevent macular degeneration in old age, though more research is needed on the subject (reference).

Tagetes erecta flowers are known as flor de muertos (“flower of the dead”) in Mexico, and used in celebrations of the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos), which is at the beginning of November. Our Tagetes have flowered just in time!

Mexican Marigold, Tagetes erecta