FRENCH MARIGOLDS, OLD AND NEW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23577, 13 August 1938, Page 26

FRENCH MARIGOLDS, OLD AND NEW

STANDARDS. IDEALS. AND WHIMS SOME CULTURAL DETAILS The French marigold was for many years a special favourite of the orthodox florists, whose strains and named varieties were brought to an amazing standard of perfection from their point of view, which was that the flower must be as formal in outline and precise in markings as it would be possible to draw a circle and wedge it alternatively with dark and light colours, divided by the straightest of lines. Yellow and mahogany were the two colours recognised as correct, but the tone of yellow and the depth in the latter colour often varied considerably in the various strains in cultivation. No tolerance was shown to a plant which produced flowers irregularly marked. If two petals of crimson or two of vellow were not separated by the alternate colour, the flower was considered useless. Tweezers certainly played a part in dressing these flowers, although it was considered a transgression to obliterate defects by withdrawing petals. SIZE NOT IMPORTANT Large size was never considered a point of merit, if it involved the slightest degree of coarseness or roughness, as it was termed, in the general appearance of the flower. These striped marigolds were backed by paper collars and placed flat upon boards of regular size, and a lengtn of staging at a Scottish or, perhaps, North of England show occupied by French marigolds presented an appearance quite unlike a display of real garden flowers, but had altogether an artificial or manufactured look. There are still a few shows in the north where classes are provided for marigolds of this description, but they have slipped right into the background of popularity, as compared with the exalted position they occupied last century. It is in keeping with the modern trend of taste or fashion in gardening that the admiration of that which is precise has given way to a taste for everything informal, irregular, or, as we are fond of saying, perfectly natural style. Now, instead of a seedsman becoming famous as holding a stock of seed that will produce a high percentage of perfectly-built and cor-rectly-striped flowers, we find mixed strains freely offered, the flowers of which are of all manner of colours and styles of markings. Some are practically self-coloured, others are blotched and striped in an informal manner, while others are edged with a distinctive band of yellow on a reddish or crimson ground. It is all a matter of taste whether these are to be described as beautiful, but we know that nr florist of the old school would be conte.it to give these modern mixtures garden space. Their attitude was. admittedly, extremely conservative, and what today is described as narrow-minded, but we must give credit to the old florists for their consummate skill and patience in building up and keeping pure their ideal strains of this eav and striking flower It is a matter of comparative ease to produce seeds of the newer mixtures of French marigolds whereas it was formerly an extremely difficult business to secure seed of the very best and keep the stock from reversion. It may certainly be said of modern strains that they make a striking show of colour in the garden and produce an enormous quantity of bloom over f> prolonged period. Among the attractive specialities offered. Harmony is noteworthy. The plants are very dwarf and compact in habit of growth, and the flowers arc quite different in form from the oldfashioned type. The petals are broad around the margin, and cushioned in the centre, giving the flower a form which is something between a sweet scabious and a pompon dahlia, but on short stems. The ground colour is a rich vellow. overlaid with a border or maroon-red, making a starthngly effective combination. It is a capita) plant for filling a bed. with an edging of dwarf sweet alyssum. Single-flowered French marigolds are now recognised as worthy of cultivation, although at one time every plant that dared to produce single blossoms was ruthlessly committed to the flames. A strain known as tall single French mangold. Flaming Fire, grows, to a height well over two feet, bears widely expanded blossoms, imitating the form of a single dahlia. These are borne on long stems, and are brightly coloured, although widely variable as the season advances. At its best, the ground colour is real flaming red, with a narrow wire edge of yellow, but sometimes the yellow encroaches upon the ground-work of the petals, submerging half of the red. A double variety, known as Dwarf French Royal Scot, will please those who like the orthodox type of mahogany and gold stripes. Twelve inches is the maximum height of this plant, and the seed stock has been so regularly purified by roguemg that there is practically no variation in the form and colouring of flowers throughout a whole batch of plants. CULTURE NOTES Marigolds are not particularly difficult to cultivate, but, unlike the majority of flowering plants, they are not improved by a rich diet. If the soil is too well nourished the plants grow rough and coarse, and the flowers are correspondingly heavy and irregular. Better results are obtained if the rooting medium is a very gritty porous soil which, however, must be capable of attaining a considerable degree of firmness. The usual method adopted is to sow seed i gentle heat in August and September, pricking ou: the seedlings at an early stage and hardening off the plants for bedding out in November. It is quite possible, however, to raise plants from seed? sown in the open. October being soon enough to introduce the seed to the ground. These plants will make Sufficient progress to be ready for planting out by the end of November, and they will flower from the later part of January until cut off by hard frosts. There is a tall, so-called giant tree French marigold, which makes a good pot plant. It grow.? over a yard in height, and bushes out. branching freely, and producing blooms of a bronzy-orange shade of coloui The

flowers are produced with great freedom, and there is a distinct advantage in having a few of these plants in a greenhouse, because flies, and even the dreaded white fly that attacks tomatoes and various other plants, have an abhorrence of the odour of the marigold foliage, and, although it cannot be claimed that this poisons the pests, it helps considerably to induce them to give the vicinity a wide berth. The dwarfer strains of the French marigold make good fillings for small flower beds on the lawn, or for ribbon borders elsewhere. For such purposes the older kinds, known as Legion of Honour, a clear yellow, blotched with crimson-brown, and Fire Cross, similarly coloured in orange and scarlet, are to be preferred. We have referred to the deterrent effect of the marigold odour on flies, so it will not come as a surprise for the reader to be told that these flowers are little troubled with insects pests. Decay from a chilly, damp atmosphere in autumn is about all they suffer from.