My Marigolds

I used to start my marigolds from seed. Each year I would collect the seeds from the spent flower buds and before I knew it I had shopping bags full of seeds. Then I went a couple years where I didn't use them to finding a drawer full of  seeds waiting for me this year. I didn't know if they would still want to grow for me, but I decide to blanket the ground with them. I had nothing to lose and look what I gained.

Marigolds 2014

Success! 

So I had started the seeds late May/ early June and they took a while to flower. However, here we are well into September and they have plenty of blooming. What I would like to see is an earlier start but it's generally too cold for the seeds to germinate in April. I decided to do a little experiment. And lo and behold I was able to start these in a plastic ziploc on saturated paper towel.

Marigold Sprouts

These went from seed to sprouts in 3 days! I have the egg carton there for transplant later, just needing to get a little dirt. 

So it looks like I'll be able to get a decent hardy start for these next year and hopefully get a longer flowering season.