Plant a Star-Shaped Garden of Marigolds
Marigolds are always available at the local nursery in the spring season. Marigolds are a highly appealing flower, in gardens and in vases, just for their beauty and scent. Marigolds are easy to grow from young plants or seeds, sown directly into the ground during the first planting season. By the summer, the germinated seeds have already turned into young plants with the first blossoms. As an annual, these flowers are useful flowers, for their natural scent keeps many insects away, providing a nice barrier to other flowers when planted close to them. Marigolds like sunny spots in the yard, and do not require soil that needs a lot of attention in the preparation before planting. In fact, marigolds actually grow better when mulch is not added to the soil, especially if they are being grown from seeds. For this decorative garden project, you will need to have the area marked out where the flowers will be planted. You will also need your regular garden tools plus a blunt edged stick.
Turn over the soil well and break it up for drainage. Eliminate clumped pieces, then smooth out the soil so that it is level. For this you can use a small garden hand spader, or fork, to create a level surface. Take up the blunt stick in your hand, and draw a free-hand five pointed star. The stars can be anywhere from 5″ to 10″ in size. Make several star shapes in different sizes to make them look real, instead of uniform. Deepen the outside edge of the star so that a furrow is made for the seeds. Drop the seeds into the furrow, following the outline of the star. Repeat the same for each star made. Crumble the soil over the seeds and lightly pack them down. Water the seeds after planting. Allow the seeds time to germinate. Once the young seedlings are sprouting above ground, some of your stars will be filled in.
To fill the inside of some of the stars, purchase young marigold plants. Choose a variety of colors from the bi-colored orange and yellow to the solid colored ones. These will be planted inside the star shapes. The other stars will just remain with their outlines for a unique touch. The young plants that are still growing will form a nice outline to the blossomed marigolds. After the plants are in the ground, water them. Your marigold stars will look like real yellow stars, bright and shining against the soil.
Image Credit: Sabina Bajracharya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
