The summer when small marigolds took over my balcony

Marigolds (various species of the Tagetes genus) reproduce very easily, grow quite well in both sun and shade, and are quite resilient to both moist and dry weather. That’s how last summer I got my balcony garden taken over by the smallest and simplest yet beautiful kinds of Marigolds. Check the shots I made to the different colors and patterns that bloomed.

Over the years I developed the habit of taking seeds from dying flowers everywhere. Including Marigold seeds. I then plant the mixtures of seeds (often stored just in my pockets, hence fully mixed) and then enjoy free flowers throughout the full season, with the added surprise that I often don’t know exactly what I will get.

Last year I apparently went too far with Marigolds. I got literally hundreds of plants, growing densely packed in most of my pots… These are just 2 of these pots, where you can appreciate the large number of germinating seeds:

This would have been a disaster for any serious gardener, but it was a pleasure for me. The pleasure of enjoying long-lasting, easy-to-take-care-of flowers of all colors ranging from yellow to orange, red, and brown, in various shapes and patterns. I took tens of photos of these flowers from May until November when the last plants died out. In fact, I collected so many photos that my phone made an automated collage that I also share at the end of the story.

Starting with the simplest and most common color:

And then a more complex structure using more petals of the same color:

Then keeping the last floral structure but changing color to orange:

Now this one seems to have combined the orange and red colors of the flowers above:

And this one just doesn’t decide to which group it belongs. A complex pattern seems to want to emerge above a simple 5-petal arrangement:

We last get back to the simplest pattern, but in yellow color:

Those were photos of individual flowers, but this is how they look in the groups they form:

I close this story with a collage that my phone made automatically:

Tell me in the comments what’s your favorite kind. Simple floral structure? Complex? Yellow? Red? Orange? Mottled?

And if you like photos of flowers, check my other publications. Some highlights of special interest here:

I am a nature, science, technology, programming, and DIY enthusiast. Biotechnologist and chemist, in the wet lab and in computers. I write about everything that lies within my broad sphere of interests. Check out my lists for more stories. Become a Medium member to access all stories by me and other writers, and subscribe to get my new stories by email (original affiliate links of the platform).