Marigold 'Mumsy Gold'

Beginning in late spring and continuing through summer and into fall, Mumsy is a tireless bloomer, setting giant 4-inch double blooms with a flattish pompon shade and more color than you can imagine. The masses of tiny petals are curled and frazzled and frilly, all contributing to a highly textured flower that adds depth as well as breadth to the annual bed or your best container. Of course you must have plenty of these Marigolds in the vase, too, to fool your gardening friends if for no other reason! (Wait for them to ask how on earth you coaxed a Mum into bloom in June, for instance!)

Mumsy reaches about 14 inches high in bloom, and is heavy-bearing, setting new buds as quickly as you can cut or deadhead the spent blooms. Only 8 inches wide, it makes a good container choice, offering a lot of color in very little space. But you might have to put it front and center in the sunny annual bed, too, where its giant flowers can really show off!

Marigold is one of the easiest flowers to begin from seed, and many a happy gardener began his or her career with a few of these seeds in the soil as a child. Direct-sow them into the warm spring soil or begin indoors for even earlier blooms. Mumsy is quick-growing and very well-branched. And if you like Gold, you will want to try the other colors: Yellow and Orange -- or surrender to the inevitable and get the Mix of all three! Pkt is 50 seeds.