My First African Marigold Is Still Standing

Content submitted by: Barbara Weiner

A pretty garden isn't built overnight.  I really have a lot of respect for those of you who have a blooming and beautiful garden.  I can barely keep my couple of plants alive.  For weeks, I've gone out to my patio to obsessively check on my Marigolds, looking for leaves eating insects to squash!  Of course I never found any insect during my countless garden inspections.  One time, I did get 3 ugly snugs (yes, just 3) in a bowl of beer I put out overnight.  There are so many holes on the leaves of my Marigolds that I have no idea what creature is feeding on them.  As of now, I just give up.  Instead of obsessively checking the plant countless times on a daily basis, I'm now only spending a couple minutes every other day, on watering and inspection;  and for once every 4 days, I spray the 100% all natural insecticide on the soil.  I don't spray on the leaves anymore because I have been burning them.

I've stopped fussing over my Marigolds because my investment of time on them didn't generate the numerous flowers that I had been expecting.  Many of the buds just died without ever blooming.  It's not lacking of buds. There are always numerous buds forming, but they always die as the buds.  I have no idea if it was due to the all natural insecticide that I had been spraying on them, or it was due to some mysterious diseases or insects.  Whatever it is that's been killing the buds of my Marigolds, it's still able to maintain 3 flowers at all time, and never more than 3.  When one of the 3 flowers died, another bloomed to make up for the dead one I pinched off.  But 3 is where my single plant of African Marigold plateaus.  Compared to how the plant looked back in April, it's not looking much worse now.  I should be glad that this $1.00 Marigold plant is still standing.  As of now, I have given up my futile battles against nature (like insects or god knows what organisms that eat my plant)  to fight for the life all the flower buds.  As long as there are still 3 flowers, I am content.  I've learnt to chill now, through my lessons with gardening.