This plant thrives in the hot southern heat and is low maintenance, sweet tasting culinary treat! Steep the leaves in hot water to make an exotic, sophisticated flavor-blended medicinal tea; combining flavors reminiscent of both licorice and anise.

The leaves are used in cooking to flavor chocolate, make cider, vinegars, spice cakes, salad dressings, and to add flavor to chicken and fish entrees. It's also used in remoulades, tarter sauces, bearnaise sauces and makes a suitable tarragon substitute in recipes.

Medicinal uses of Tagates Lucida goes back to the time of the Aztecs, where it was prized for it's digestive, diuretic, and febrifuge, hypotensive, narcotic, anesthetic, sedative and stimulant effects. 

Additionally, the flowers of the Tagetes Lucida are a beautiful bright yellow and bloom heavily through fall. The roots of the plant release a substance that wards off weeds. The entire plant is disease and insect resistant however it is a pollinator flower for beneficial insects. The woody shrub-like qualities of the roots allow for it to tolerate rocky soil too--so this makes it a great choice for planting in a rock garden. It also does well in containers or planters.

Companion plant with tomatoes, peppers or basil.

To germinate, start the seeds in a warm and sunny location, keep the soil and seeds moist, ensuring the seeds are snuggly placed into the moisture of the soil but still have access to sunlight. In the germination phase, take care that they don't bury deep into the soil and get fully covered up when you water them. Germination time takes up to 15 days.