Treading water

Tagetes  minuta

I'm not letting this past growing season move on to the season of treading water and sparing the watering can ,without praising Tagetes minuta , and hoping that everyone who is a gardener and reads this post will grow some next year .

It masquerades as a bog standard French or African marigold when it germinates .

Rule 1 , always label your seed trays . This one grows and grows  and grows and a rogue one amongst a neat border of the bedding marigold will not become obvious until about June when the municipal ones are behaving as they should . In my case ,I grow the latter to keep the border edge obvious on my no dig beds. I just don't have time to manicure edges.
Rule 2 Remember how tall T.minuta may grow. This year they are over a metre high, whereas the T.tigers eyes are about 19cm.

 Rule 3. Read the books on Companion Planting . I like Bob Flowerdew's simple  The Companion garden .You will discover that T. minuta is reputed to repel COUCH GRASS AND BINDWEED by exuding noxious secretions from its roots , or that's  the gist . I cannot see how any one on Filey Allotments then could do without it . I spend hours in February and March trying to dig out all the subterranean runners of Couch Grass. I delight when a huge piece comes out , and try to get every little bit out , but its still rife in the boundary edges of my plots. Next year I am going to plant serious borders of the giant annual, hoping to create windbreaks and artillery .
Rule 4 Always spend time making sure your allotment guests smell T minuta. It is highly and pleasantly aromatic.




T minuta November 2018





Its treading water at the moment too. The winds and rain are very rough today . I've been up to the plot in the gales to see if the roof is still on the shed and if the T minuta has all fallen over, it is and it hasn't .