Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Inspiration

These flowers are traditional for Dia de los Muertos celebrations

Cayla Leonard
By

Dia de los Muertos is a beautiful time of year, both in sentiment and aesthetics, lasting from October 31 to November 2. A celebration of family and a bittersweet remembrance of those who are gone, flowers are a cornerstone of this holiday. If cut flowers and petals aren’t your style, or if you’d rather use homegrown flowers, here is everything you need to know about growing the three most common Dia de los Muertos flowers.

Marigold

There are plenty of varieties of marigold, and care can vary slightly between them. Aztec marigold, Tagetes erecta, is native to South and Central America and is tolerant of heat and drought. If you live somewhere a little rainier, try French marigold, Tagetes patula, which can handle wetter climates better than other marigolds. Both of these varieties produce big, beautiful blooms, with the Aztec being taller than the French. If you’re looking for a smaller marigold, get the signet marigold, Tagetes tenuifolia, which likes hot, dry climates and has tiny, cute blooms.

Related Videos

Once you’ve picked your marigold variety, you can either plant from seed or get an already-mature plant. Marigolds do well from seeds in general, but it will be longer until you see flowers, especially if you’re planting Aztec marigolds.

Related

Marigolds love sun, so avoid planting them in shady spots. Marigold in the shade is prone to mildew, which can harm or kill your plants. Seeds can be sown 1 inch apart from each other and just an inch down in the soil, but mature plants need to be spaced 8 to 10 inches apart, for French and signet, and 10 to 12 inches apart for Aztec.

You can plant your marigold at any time after the last frost of the season. Since the Aztec marigold is taller and slower to grow, these are best planted as soon as possible after the last frost.

Chrysanthemum

White chrysanthemums are the traditional color for Dia de los Muertos, and there are a few varieties to choose from. Single bloom chrysanthemums are a very classic, traditional variety. Pompoms are more dome shaped and look very fluffy. Spoon blooms have petals that are shaped, unsurprisingly, like spoons. These varieties come in several colors, including the traditional white.

If you’re planting your mums from seed, start them in the spring, so you can have blooms in the fall. Mature mums start appearing in stores and garden centers in September and October, if you don’t want to start from seeds. Be discerning when choosing a mature plant, though! Look for signs of illness or damage, like limp, soggy leaves, spots on the leaves, or holes in the leaves or stem.

Chrysanthemums need six hours of sun a day, but will certainly thank you if they get more than that. More sunlight for mums means bigger, prettier, and more numerous blooms. Keep in mind, though, that soil dries out faster in the sun. Mums like soil that is moist but not soggy. If the soil gets too dry, their roots aren’t able to grow.

Gladiolus

Gladioli come in a wide array of colors and patterns. Care doesn’t typically vary much from variety to variety, so you can choose what you like best based on appearance. There are solid-color gladioli, patterned gladioli, and gladioli with interesting-shaped blooms! Whether you choose a Yellowstone gladiolus, an Elvira gladiolus, or an Abyssian sword lily, the care is more or less the same.

Gladioli grow from bulbs, also called corms, instead of seeds. Bigger corms produce bigger spikes and flowers, while smaller corms produce smaller ones. Bigger corms also tend to bloom sooner, although the difference is only a few weeks.

Corm size also dictates how deep it should be planted. Small corms should be planted 2 to 3 inches down, adding an inch or two for medium corms and another couple inches for large corms.

Whether you’re planting from corms or getting mature plants, make sure you plant them somewhere sunny, with moist but well-drained soil. Gladioli is adaptable to most soil types, but it does not do well in clay. Gladioli and chrysanthemums require very similar conditions and look excellent together, so planting them together, if you have space, is a good idea, especially since chrysanthemums will grow to fill a space and gladioli, being tall and thin, don’t take up much room.

Whether you plan on planting from seeds, corms, or mature plants, these three traditional Dia de los Muertos flowers will brighten any garden, home, or office. They pair well with each other, and there are so many varieties and colors to choose from! No matter how you choose to plant them, or what variety you pick, enjoy your flowers and have a happy Dia de los Muertos!

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The best vegetables to plant in November
Tips on which vegetables to grow when the temperatures drop
Pumpkin on a vine

Some vegetables are more suited to be grown in cooler months than others. It all depends on their growing conditions and the kind of environment they prefer. When you’re planting vegetables during winter, the chances are you’re planting them in an insular setting — be it in a greenhouse or in your home. These are a few ideal vegetables to plant in November, but there are many others beyond them if these aren’t up your alley.

Rhubarb
Growing rhubarb in containers during the winter is possible, so long as you have a large enough pot to accommodate the plant. With rhubarb, depth is more important than width (depending on how many you want per pot) because of its large root system. You want to make sure you select pots or containers that are sturdy, have good drainage, and are at least twenty inches deep. To the same effect, the soil should be designed for good draining to avoid drowning or rotting the plant. A healthy rhubarb could live and produce for up to ten years if you play your hand right.

Read more
7 ways to reuse your Halloween pumpkin so it doesn’t go to waste
From cooking to composting: Creative ways to put your pumpkins to use
Jack-o'-lanterns

Nothing can get you into the fall spirit liking going to your local farm and picking pumpkins. Adults love it, kids love it, and the farms love it, too! Unfortunately, what we don't love is all the waste that happens once those lovely pumpkins aren't needed as decoration anymore. Sadly, about 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in landfills across the United States. That's an incredible amount of waste that could be used in so many ways, including food.

While pumpkins are only a tiny percentage of the national food waste crisis, you can do your part to reduce this waste by finding ways to reuse Halloween pumpkins instead of letting them rot in a landfill. So this year, instead of wasting your pumpkins, consider one of these ways you can reuse your jack-o'-lanterns.

Read more
Are mulched leaves good for grass? Here’s how to mulch a lawn full of leaves this fall
Simple ways to mulch your leaves this autumn season
Leaf mulcher

Leaves can be a lot of fun to crunch underfoot or pile up and jump into, but they can also be annoying for gardeners to deal with. But they can do a lot for you and garden, though, even making an excellent fertilizer! If you've ever wondered if mulched leaves are good for grass and if there are ways to make your leaves decompose faster, this article is for you.

Best ways to mulch leaves from the garden
Mulching leaves is a straightforward process, and you have two main options for how to go about it. You can collect leaves when they’re dry and create leaf litter, or collect them when wet and turn them into leaf mold.

Read more