Marigold - Mr. Majestic

I was never interested in Marigold becuase I see it everywhere; it is almost always used for apartment, commercial, business landscaping.  It was too boring and looked cheap, so I didn't want it...until I saw a picture of this cute version in a plant catalogue. I wanted to grow Mr. Majestic!

 These are the seeds.  I planted them on December 5th  (I forgot to take a picture on the day I seeded).

 7 days after seeding, little seedlings emerged.  Sorry the picture is bit blurry.

34 days after seeding, a few true leaves started to show and roots were getting longer, so I transplanted three seedlings in a container and some in the ground.

 One month after transplant, and 66 days after seeding, there was already a bud!  That's fast!  (This one is planted in a container)

 While the container ones had bigger buds, I noticed the ones transplanted in the ground look different; these have larger and greener leaves, but their buds are much smaller.  Hm. I wonder why?

The bud got bigger each day, but it had taken a long time until the flower opened (it's true for most of the time from my experience thus far).  I got impatient and disappointed every morning as the bud was still shut.

 Almost a week after the above picture, and 91 days from seeding, the first flower finally opened!  Hooray~

Isn't this cute or what?  I hope the plants (I planted 3 in this container) will fill the entire container and many flowers bloom!

SEED INFORMATION:

Seeds I bought: Pinetree Garden Seeds MARIGOLD - MR. MAJESTIC

Seeds bought from: http://www.superseeds.com/

Origination of the seeds: Unknown

According to the package:

*  Days to germination: Unknown - Mine took 7 days to germinate

*  Days to bloom: Unknown - Mine took 91 days to bloom

*  Plant height: 10 inches

*  Grows best: Sun

*  Recommended planting season for San Diego: Unknown - I planted in December