Nothing is more generic and dull than your average marigold, but on the flip side, few bedding plants are as easy, versatile and consistently pretty.The garden flower snob in me wants to sweep marigold plants away in place of other more exciting annuals, but inevitably I buy some each year to throw in the vegetable garden or stick here and there. Summer would not be summer without them.

There are three key places I plant marigolds.

1. around my veggie patch, because they are said to repel insects even though research says otherwise

2. blazing hot spots along my drive, because these Mexican natives thrive in heat

3. my daughter's garden, because she has to work to kill them, they smell kinda funky and she likes bright colors

There are three main types planted: tall or American marigolds (Tagetes erecta), French marigolds (Tagetes patula) and Mexican marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia). The latter is the prettiest with its fine, feather foliage and prolific small flowers, but it's also the most short-lived. French marigolds produce medium to small flowers, are shorter, bushier and found in every garden center in the universe, and American marigolds are the big ones with the huge frilly puff flowers. As an aside, some taxonomists prefer to refer to these as hybrid groups rather than species.

Last year I planted these cheerfully boring selections:

Tagetes patula 'Bonanza Flame' (it looks like almost every other orangish red double French marigold to me)

Tagetes erecta...this may be 'Disco Orange.' I'm not sure.

This year I've ordered seed for lots of ivory-flowered Tagetes erecta cultivars destined for my veggie garden and went a little overboard. My goal is to find the best "white" out there (all are actually cream or ivory).  Reportedly, some develop a dirty look with age while others don't. Burpee has the best whites because they spearheaded a search for a true white marigold back in 1954. The result was the ivory-flowered 'Snowball', which was bred and selected by Iowa gardener Alice Vonk in 1975. Alice won $10,000 and Burpee had dibs on the marigold.

Burpee's 'Snowball' is sure to be a winner with its large, dense blooms as is their other popular variety, 'Snowdrift', which boasts larger, looser flowers. Burpee also offers the stouter, large-flowered, 'French Vanilla.' Another fine white offered by Baker's Creek is the tall 'Kilimanjaro White', which has loose, less formal looking double flowers and Park's Seed offers my last selection, 'Inca Primrose.' Its palest yellow flowers are often planted along Longwood Garden's brick walk and always looks stellar.

All this this marigold-themed typing has made me tired and left me dreaming of summer. Excuse me while I let loose with one big, sunny marigold yawn.