Desert marigold

Sun

Full sun; flowering and compact growth are best with at least six hours of direct sun.

Water

Low once established. Water young plants while they root, then allow the soil to dry thoroughly between waterings.

Soil

Lean, sandy or gravelly soil with excellent drainage; tolerates alkaline conditions. Avoid heavy clay and moisture-retentive, richly amended beds.

Height

1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m)

Spread

1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m)

Flowers

Bright yellow daisies from spring into autumn, often in flushes after rain; flowering may pause during severe drought or extreme heat.

Foliage

Evergreen. Soft, woolly, silver-grey leaves, often lobed, clustered mainly near the base beneath slender flower stems.

Growth

Fast; can flower in its first year from seed.

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1 ft (0.3 m)

2. After 1 year

   1.2 ft (0.38 m)

3. After 2 years

   1.5 ft (0.45 m)

   full size

About 2 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant in a sunny gravel bed, raised bed or sharply drained container.
• Water at soil level during establishment; reduce watering once new growth is strong.
• Skip routine feeding and rich compost, which encourage weak growth.
• Use gravel rather than moisture-holding organic mulch around the crown.
• Keep the crown dry in winter; foliage may die back in cold weather or prolonged drought.

Pruning. Remove spent flower stems near the base to tidy the plant and encourage further flowering, leaving some seed heads if you want seedlings. In spring, remove dead foliage and stems without cutting into healthy basal growth.

Early spring

Remove winter-damaged foliage and check that water drains freely around the crown.

Spring

Sow seed or plant young plants after severe frost has passed; water regularly only while roots establish.

Late spring

Thin crowded seedlings and remove early spent flower stems if you want a tidier display.

Summer

Water established plants only during prolonged dry spells, allowing the soil to dry between soakings.

Autumn

Leave a few seed heads to ripen; in mild, dry-winter climates, sow seed for spring flowers.

Winter

Keep irrigation off unless conditions are unusually dry, and protect container plants from persistent rain.

• Plant loose groups through a gravel garden, where yellow flowers contrast with pale stone and silver foliage.
• Use along the sunny front of a dry border with red yucca and blue grama for contrasting shapes.
• Scatter among widely spaced agaves and boulders in a southwestern planting.
• Grow in sharply drained pots on a sunny patio where winter rainfall can be controlled.

Garden styles it suits: Desert modern, Southwestern, Desert / xeriscape, Dry gravel garden, Pollinator garden and Low-maintenance.

Plant it with: Red yucca, Parry's agave, Blue grama, Blackfoot daisy, Desert penstemon and Brittlebush.

Wildlife: Flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other visiting insects. Leaving some flowers to set seed also supports natural renewal of the planting.

• Root or crown rot in wet soil: improve drainage, keep mulch away from the crown and reduce watering; replace badly rotted plants.
• Weak, sprawling growth in shade or rich soil: move to full sun and stop feeding.
• Poor survival in humid or wet-winter climates: use a sheltered, sharply drained container or grow as a seasonal annual.
• Short lifespan: allow a few seedlings to establish or collect seed regularly to replace older plants.

Known to cause serious poisoning in grazing livestock, particularly sheep and goats; dried plant material can remain hazardous. Keep all parts out of horse pasture and hay. Reliable toxicity information for horses, cats, dogs and people is limited, so prevent ingestion and do not use the flowers as edible marigolds.

• Desert sunflower (Geraea canescens)

  Usually a larger annual with broader leaves carried along leafy stems; desert marigold has a more distinct basal clump of woolly, often lobed leaves and relatively leafless flower stalks.

• Stemless four-nerve daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)

  Forms a low tuft of narrow, mostly unlobed leaves and generally has fewer yellow ray florets; desert marigold has broader, often deeply lobed silver leaves and fuller-looking flower heads.

• Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)

  Has greener, broader leaves on leafy stems and yellow or orange flowers; it lacks desert marigold's woolly silver basal foliage.

Baileya honours American microscopist Jacob Whitman Bailey, while multiradiata means many-rayed, referring to the numerous yellow ray florets.

Propagation. Grow from seed, sown in spring or in autumn where winters are mild. Press seed onto a freely draining seed mix, cover very lightly and keep lightly moist until germination. Transplant seedlings while small; established plants may self-seed in open gravel.

Accepted botanical name

Baileya multiradiata

Native range

Arizona, California, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.

Measured

Average height 12 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0) and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.