Black Caterpillar in Marigold

Sorry for the silence for the last two weeks or so. I was off visiting my granny in RI. So, thanks KD for watering. Everything is looking good over here. I have much to report about new garden items and several that I had to let go. Check back in soon!

I saw what looked like animal refuse on the petals of my marigold. Upon closer inspection I found that it was actually a jet black caterpillar. I tried to take a good picture, but ended up with this one. I wonder what kind of moth/butterfly it would have been.

P.S. You may remember my story about the 20 cent packet of seeds I bought from Wal Mart. Yes, this is the result of those seed packets. I have many wild looking marigolds!

Marigolds & Tomato

Here are a few of my marigolds. I planted a few in with my tomatoes
and as you can see they are as tall the tomatoes!

The Importance of Pruning

Remember my post about marigolds? I bought the 20 cent packet of marigolds from walmart, so did KD. We both planted them and they sprung up. But, neither KD, nor I snipped the stems when they started to grow tall. Well, KDs garden looks like a rain forest. The marigolds are so tall, and there aren't that many buds. (not to mention that the caterpillars seem to love the flower buds). They look unrefined and haphazard. Not at all what you want to look at.

What we should have done was snip the growing stem of the marigold when it reached the desired height. This would have encourage the plant to send out side stems and eventually have more flowers. I will post a picture soon.

Next time...

Tip: I read that September is a great time to buy plants in nurseries- lots of sales. I will be hitting up the Armstrong to see if this is true. Do you know?

Marigolds- My first attempt to grow flowers from seed!

*NEWSFLASH* I clearly posted this entry too soon! The seeds I planted last Thursday have indeed sprouted today, June 2; I shouldn't have doubted.  Only a 5 day germination period. I guess those bizarre rainy days were great for them.  

I bought some cheap seeds (20 cents) by American Seed. The package merely says Marigold, Crackerjack Mixed Colors. There is no reference to what type of marigold or the official name. The seeds look like mini sticks that are black and yellow colored. I bought them because I read somewhere that they are excellent companion plants because their pungent smell repels insects. So, I filled three pots with soil and these seeds. I am not convinced the seeds will sprout-- I mean, 20 cents is pretty cheap.

After some research, I have determined that the seeds I planted are the Common Marigold (Tagetes). Marigold is a member of the daisy family. Wikipedia says that the name marigold describes the calendula flower in some other areas. Apparently, the leave juice of this flower is used in wart removal. Anyone try this?

But Can You Eat Them?

Some marigolds are edible--very exciting. However, since my cheap ass seeds fail to tell me what freaking kind of marigold it is, I have no method of determining whether the ones I planted are edible! Time will tell (if they even sprout).

Dying For Marigolds

The lovely deep yellow color of the marigold flowers are used to make dye. One website said that farmers even feed chickens marigold petals so that the chicken skin is yellow. Wierd, I don't eat meat, but I am not certain if I did that I would want yellow chicken skin.

PS. Totally unrelated to gardening, as I write this post I am watching some random SciFi Channel show where Baltar (you know, from BSG) is playing Merlin (yes, the wizard) with the worst "voice" ever. It sounds like he is trying to sound like a mix of James Earl Jones, a dying person, a person with a speech disorder, and Darth Vader. It is AWFUL. so sad.