238 TAGETUS 



Tage'tus — continued. 



T. pa'tula, The French Marigold, of which there 

 are many varieties, some being mottled and 

 others striped yellow and chestnut brown. 

 There are single and double forms too, the 

 plants spreading as they grow and producing 

 an immense quantity of flowers, about 12 to 

 18 ins. high. 1573. Recent improvements 

 have made them more compact and bushy, 

 and the variety, well known as Legion of 

 Honour, is about the best to select, striped 

 yellow and brown single flowers. The forms, 

 called in catalogues nana, diff'er only in 

 being very dwarf and compact. 



T. signa'ta is a distinct dwarf species, 9 ins. high, 

 exceedingly bright and pretty. It is allied to 

 T. patula, but the flowers are much smaller 

 and very numerous, almost screening the 

 foliage. The colour is lemon-yellow with a 

 scarlet blotch at the base of each petal. 



T. signa'ta inhnila is a pigmy form of the type. 

 As a border edging it is most useful, 



Sow seeds tV in. deep in pans or shallow boxes 

 of light soil in temp. 60^ in March. Transplant 

 the seedlings, when two or three leaves show, in 

 other boxes, harden off" gradually in cold frame, 

 and plant out in June. Or sow outdoors at the 

 end of April and thin out, the African Marigolds 

 in groups about 18 ins. apart, and the French 

 Marigolds about 1 ft. apart. Dwarf varieties may 

 be planted or thinned out to 6 ins. apart. 



