Rewilding My Lot

In Houston, I had a pot of Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida), which I brought to Seguin when I moved here in February 2023. It’s a plant that is native to Mexico and Central America, and which has adapted well to Texas. The leaves have a fragrance similar to tarragon and anise, and other names for this plant include Spanish Tarragon, Texas Tarragon, and Mexican Tarragon.

The following winter, since the plant seemed crowded in its pot, I split it into two — half went back in the pot on the front porch and half went in the ground behind the house. They both froze back to the ground in January 2024, but both grew back.

The front “pot plant” has been watered every day (if the soil was dry); the rear “ground plant” has received no supplemental water. By August 2024, it was clear which of the two plants was happier.

This is the plant in the ground behind the house:

And this is the plant in the pot in front of the house:

I am a lazy gardener, which is why I have generally avoided having plants in pots — they need more attention and more water. So given what I was seeing in this situation, the obvious thing was to put the “front” Mexican Mint Marigold in the ground. So in it went to the nearby pollinator garden, with some Mycorrhizae to help boost root growth. I also trimmed the taller branches away to give it an easier start, and those chopped branches were gifted back to the plant as some “personal mulch.”

This plant blooms in the fall, so it’s possible that the transplant and pruning will prevent it from flowering this year. However, if it’s eventually happier in this new location, that is still the better outcome.