marigolds

The marigold flower is used abundantly today in Mexico to celebrate the Day of the Dead, when both fresh and dried flowers adorn cemeteries and graves. The flower heads are also used to make a tea to drink.

Early on, I longed for all the more pretentious perennials, but now I prefer the tried and true.

All types of marigolds last well as cut flowers, and they are excellent plants for children to grow when they begin gardening.

Many people want a low-maintenance garden, yet no garden is truly low maintenance, but one possibility is an informal garden of easy-care flowering annuals.

For twenty years Henry Mitchell’s column “Earthman” was a weekly feature in The Washington Post.