Marigolds are beautiful flowers that make your garden look aesthetic. You should note that the plant falls under both annual and perennial categories. This is because there are several variants of the plant that you can select from. All of these are amazing but the requirement for each plant varies. Keeping this in mind, you should go through the details of these flowers before deciding which one will work best for you.
Two of the most popular types of Marigolds are French and African. Both of these are amazing, but they also look quite similar. This is why people often get confused between the two and ask what the differences are. Hence, we will be using this article to provide you with a comparison between French and African marigolds. Going through it should help you in understanding how these are different.
French vs African Marigold
French Marigold
French marigolds are plants that are from the daisy family. The first thing that you will notice about these flowers is that they look quite similar to African marigolds. Although, one easily noticeable difference is the size of these plants. French marigolds are usually smaller in size when compared with the African variant of the flower. Moreover, when you check the form of this plant, people will notice that it grows as small bushes. These are low in height while the flowers spread about 2 inches across.
The colors on the flowers usually range from shades of orange, yellow, and mahogany-red. These might sometimes vary slightly as the shades get mixed, but the overall color scheme remains the same. People should keep in mind that there are also some species of the flower that can grow out as bicolored. Other than this, the height of this plant can go up to 18 inches while the lower ends of the plant are around 6 inches. The growth of your flowers usually depends on how you take care of them.
Considering this, keeping the plants healthy is an essential step to ensure that the flowers keep on blooming. When simply talking about the blooming period of this flower, you will notice that this ranges from several months. The flowers can keep on growing as long as the plant gets enough heat.
Keeping this in mind, an average French marigold should start blooming as soon as spring starts and last until it starts to frost. The flowers are overall quite durable as they can withstand harsh weather conditions. This includes heavy rainfall and winds. Additionally, people mostly grow these flowers in bulk as this makes your garden look better.
African Marigold
African marigolds are another type of flower that people grow in their gardens. These fall under the family of sunflowers as the plant requires sunlight to stay healthy. The petals on these usually have colors that vary depending on the weather. These can range from shades of yellow and orange which make the flowers look amazing. When it comes to the blooming time of African marigolds, you will notice that these start blooming in midsummer to frost.
The period is less when compared to french marigolds and the flower also requires additional maintenance. Although, if you take proper care of the requirements for these flowers then they should also last you a long time. African marigolds are also often referred to as American marigolds as these are grown in both regions. The plants can go up to 3 feet in height as long as you take proper care of them.
Although, the flowers also have a dwarf variety that only grows about 1 foot in height. If you have a smaller garden or space to plant the flowers in then this variety can be better. Overall the main difference between African and French marigolds is that African variants grow larger and taller while French variants have a wider color range.
Other than this, both flowers require similar maintenance. The main thing that people need to look out for is the location of these plants are in. This is because the sunflowers require 5 to 6 hours of sunlight every day to stay in their best condition. With that being said, you should easily be able to understand how these variants are different from each other.