Search Results for: tagetes

Marigold Mexican Passionfruit Scented Tagetes Lemmonii Seeds

Marigold Mexican Passionfruit Scented Tagetes Lemmonii Seeds

Packet of 50+ seeds of this awesome scented marigold!

I had this one year’s ago, but moved and lost it so was I very excited to get this fella back into the collection.

Fantastic little plant that is a type of marigold, so yeah, you should have no problems growing this one!

I just put sandy soil in a tray or polystyrene box, sprinkle on the seeds, water and wait.
Takes a little longer than the more common relatives do but generally a few months later I am transplanting out the seedlings.

The plant itself look like largish bushy marigold, with bright yellow to orange, slightly ruffled flowers.
Heaps of them too, with more coming each day!

It flowers all year round a little, but really kicks into bloom in the colder months and it doesn’t die off like the standard Marigolds do. This one just bushes out and continues to bloom.

Shade or cloudy days trigger the plant into flowering, so just partially covering it with a cardboard box for a week or so is enough to make it bloom at any time of year apparently!

Handles frost fine, and survives temps down to -7c, and yet, it is still extremely hot, dry and drought tolerant.
Great looking, even better smelling, no special care needed.

Grown by me and the Mrs organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!

Tagetes Erecta African Mexican Marigold Seeds

Tagetes Erecta African Mexican Marigold Seeds

Packet of 15+ freshly harvested seeds!

Beautiful simple flowers, hardy pest repellent plant, and easy to grow.

What more could you want from a flower?

Quite a lot of pluses to growing these fellas, and I can see why they are so popular all over the world.

Often called African marigolds, Aztec marigolds, sometimes even French marigolds, they are actually originally from South and Central America, and of course Mexico where it is found growing wild San Luis Potosi, Chiapas, Puebla, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, Veracruz and the state of Mexico.
Traditionally it is harvested from this area for ceremonial, medicinal and ornamental uses.
It is also grown on a large scale to extract lutein or food colour from.

The Tagetes Family is huge, and they all have a huge list of uses as ornamentals, food, medicines and insect repellents.
I love them all and grow as many different species I can get my hands on.

Grown by me and the Mrs organically, no chems, no nasties, no problems!!!

Marigold Aztec Mix Tagetes Patula Seeds

Marigold Aztec Mix Tagetes Patula Seeds

Marigold Aztec Mix Tagetes Patula Seeds

Packet of 100+ seeds!

Hardy edible bought years and years ago. Self seeds prolifically. Just sprinkle the seed in the right spot and let nature take over.

That is exactly what we did!

Edible and colorful addition to salads. Also, great for an aromatic tea that is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, liver cleansing” and “vitality boosting” apparently…

It is a great companion plant with just about everything.

Basil, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, gourds, kale, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, melons, pineapple and pepper you name it. Also, it is said to help with nematodes, scale hoppers and it does help keep the skinks and smaller lizards out of our strawberries (I wouldn’t mind if they ate the odd berry, but they used to bite each and every ripe fruit on the pointy end!)

To sum up, it’s good for salads, tea, bugs and bouquets!

P.S. If your sole purpose for the plant is for companion planting and insect control and not so much for ornamental reasons, then I highly recommend you check out our other marigold variety, Tagetes Minuta or Huacatay.

You can check it out by clicking HERE.

Grown by us organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!

Mexican Tarragon Marigold Sweet Mace Tagetes Lucida Seeds

Mexican Tarragon Marigold Sweet Mace Tagetes Lucida Seeds

Packet of 100+ seeds easy to grow seeds!

Most famous for its association with the Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead celebrations, these guys are a very tasty addition to the herb garden.
Strong, sweet, aniseed or licorice flavour to the flowers and leaves which I love as a tea.

Most folks would know it as Sweet Mace or Mexican Tarragon, but it also has a heap of other cool names like Yerbaniz, Pericon, Mexican mint marigold, Spanish tarragon, Cempaxochitl, Texas tarragon, Flor de Santa Maria, Hierba de Nube (means Cloud herb), Xpuhuc, Tumutsali or my favourite, Yahutli which means “The Dark one”.
Synonyms include Tagetes anethina, Tagetes florida, Tagetes gilletii, Tagetes pineda, Tagetes schiedeana and Tagetes seleri.

Said to be used as a divination and lucid dreaming aid, burnt as an incense, smoked at night or made into a strong tea.
Never noticed any really strong effects myself, except very mild stimulation, and as a definite aid for indigestion, but that said I have never really had more than a big handful in a sitting? The opposite of chamomile tea really, no stronger than a normal coffee or black tea.

The internet tells me that the ancient Aztecs considered it a powerful psychoactive and their artwork reflects this. They called it The Dark One, and would make a sedative powder from it that they would sprinkle into the faces of prisoners destined to be burned as sacrifices.
I really hope it did work for them, even a little.
What a way to go..

Mexican Indians still burn small bundles of dried Tagetes lucida as a sacrament, and it is sometimes mixed with tobacco and smoked in rituals or as a recreational activity.
Not something I recommend in any way, but it is interesting.

Forgetting all this, it makes a great culinary herb and has a lot of other medicinal uses too. Said to cure hiccups, cough, cold, eczema, diarrhea, cramps, stomach pain and increase milk output in breastfeeding mothers.

Marketed mostly as a tarragon substitute, but I don’t really see it?
Much better and unique in its own way, at least in my honest opinion.
Great on smoky meats, sauces, stews, soups, and a little in a salad really adds something different.

One thing I really love that I urge you should have a crack at is slushies!
Get a handful of leaves and just rip them up a bit. You can chop them if you feel fancy.
Chuck it in an ice tray, fill with water and freeze it.
Then just dump the lot in a metal milkshake glass or large plastic jug and hit it with one of those Wizz Sticks. Food processor will do the job too I guess?
Fantastic on a hot afternoon after a hard day, really energizing and refreshing.
I would even go as far as to say better than a beer!

Grown by me and the Mrs organically, no chems, no nasties, no problems!!!

Bug Spray DIY Herb Tagetes Minuta 50grams dried

Bug Spray DIY Herb Tagetes Minuta 50grams dried

Bug Spray DIY Herb Tagetes Minuta 50grams dried

As requested, fresh dried herb of Tagetes Minuta for making your own bug spray!

I have done all the hard work for you with this lot, so you don’t even have to grow your own!

It is the whole plant and root, picked and dried just before the bulk of the seed matured, then put through the woodchipper, seived and bagged up ready to go.

I still do recommend you grow your own though, and here are all our Tagetes Seeds incase you decide to.

When I tested it here, this is what I did.

I adding heaped 2tablesspoons of dried herb to a 700ml pasta sauce bottle, then just topping up with boiling water and wacked a lid on it and left it on the bench overnight.

The next morning pour I got up and poured it through a fine strainer or cloth, then the filtered coffee coloured liquid into a 1liter spray bottle.

I gave the soft bodied critters like cut worms and cabbage moth larvae a spray morning and night, and it had them curled up dead in the bottom of the pot by the following week. Quite effective really, but it did take a few days to start knocking them off.
I don’t make any “guarantee’s” with this stuff, as I am far from an expert.

BUT, it does work well for us, and I reckon it is definitely worth a go, it doesn’t have any chemical nonsense in it, and it is only a couple bucks after all….

 

NOT FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA or TASMANIA due to added expense and drama involved.

If you decide to try and buy anyway, this item will not be sent. 🙂

 

Huacatay Black Mint Tagetes Minuta Seeds

Huacatay Black Mint Tagetes Minuta Seeds

Big packet of 100+ seeds which is plenty to get you started!

Its a great plant this one, very hardy, and quite a delicious herb in its own right.

The flavour is a blend of basil, mint, citrus, tarragon and it goes great on mild flavoured dishes like risotto or meats like chicken and fish.

Makes a fantastic pesto, great for spreading on tortillas or sandwiches, and equally good mixed into pasta or boiled potatoes. Very popular in in many parts of the world particularly Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Mexico, where it is sold in little jars as “black paste”.

Doesn’t loose its flavour/aroma as quickly as other herbs can when dried and is easily stored in a jar or resealable packet in the cupboard.

Also great for an aromatic tea that’s “antifungal”, “antibacterial” “liver cleansing” and “vitality boosting” and just bloody delicious!

Companion plant with just about everything, but especially useful for growing with beans and other annual climbers. Just wait till the huacatay is about knee high, then shove a couple beans or whatever around the bottom of each plant.

The natural insecticidal properties of the huacatay protect them from bean fly and nematodes, and at the same time provide a living trellis for the beans to grow up! They are tall straight plants, just perfect for trellises and tomato pyramids.

While I am on the subject of insect control, I bet you didn’t know that this fella, “Tagetes minta” is the “marigold” all the companion planting and natural insecticide studies were done on back in the day! All those folks on TV and books saying “marigold” is a great companion plant, and proven to protect other plants from insect attack blah blah blah, well unfortunately, they only have it half right….

There is a great insecticidal marigold, but its not the pretty little orange and yellow flowered “Tagetes patula” that they all seem to think it is!
This is it, “Tagetes minuta” or small flowered marigold, NOT “Tagetes patula”, despite what the well meaning “experts” insist…. Check it out yourself.
This fella gets 1-2m high but only 30cm wide, and kind of looks like marijuana from a distance.
Nothing like the one in the shops.

If you have ever grown one of those ornamental marigolds you will have seen for yourself how many different insects love to eat them, so it amazes me this myth keeps being perpetuated. Nothing wrong with “Tagetes patula” mind you, just don’t expect it to do much apart from look really pretty. I sell a lot of other Tagetes Species seeds, all of them cool in their own ways.

Anyway, back to this fella.

I always grow heaps as its so handy for garden stakes and we make an awesome spray from the excess huacatay we grow. We eat the younger shoots and tips till it gets a woody stem, then plant more so we have a constant supply. Its the best insecticidal spray to kill fruit fly, caterpillars, aphids and various sap sucking insects around the garden, bar none.

Even kills grasshoppers if you get them when they are still small, which even most of the toxic commercial carcinogenic chemical concoctions won’t!

Here is a LINK to our spray recipe.

So there you go, great culinary herb, perfect companion plant especially for small vines due to their tall straight growth, and the best natural bug spray you are gonna get bar none!

Grown by us organically, no nasties, no chems, no problems!!!