Marigold ‘Fireball’

* Common name: Marigold ‘Fireball’

* Botanical name: Tagetes patula ‘Fireball’

* What it is: ‘Fireball’ is a variety of dwarf crested French marigold that not only blooms heavily all summer but changes flower colors from dark bronze-red to red-orange to golden bronze.

Marigolds are easy to start from seed, and ‘Fireball’ is an open-pollinated variety that means you can save seed and start your own the next year. It’s available in both seed and plant form in garden centers and catalogs.

Like all marigolds, ‘Fireball’ is heat- and drought-tough and isn’t bothered by deer.

* Size: Plants grow 10 to 12 inches tall and about eight inches wide.

* Where to use: Because it’s seed-grown, ‘Fireball’ makes an affordable choice for massing out in any sunny garden where you’d like bright color all season. Plants also grow well in sunny pots. Use a few to add color to vegetable gardens.

* Care: Plant out after danger of frost passes in spring (mid-May or after). Marigolds are sensitive to cold.

Keep the soil damp the first few weeks to aid rooting, then water is needed only in extended dry spells. Work compost and timed-release flower fertilizer into the soil at planting.

Supplemental liquid flower fertilizer each month throughout the growing season is helpful but not necessary.

Snip off any browned flowers to keep plants neat and to encourage continuing bloom.

Yank and compost when plants die with frost in fall.

In pots, water daily when it doesn’t rain, and fertilize with a half-strength flower fertilizer every week or two.

* Great partner: Gold sun-loving annuals are good partners, such as zinnias, lantana, bidens, mecardonia, or melampodium. Ornamental grasses or gold-tinted conifers make good backdrops.