DIY Marigold Garland for Día de los Muertos: Fresh Flower Strings You Can Make (and Grow)
Every year around this time, buckets of bright orange marigolds start showing up at markets, grocery stores and nurseries all over Arizona. That is not a coincidence. Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is celebrated on November 1 and 2, and marigolds are its signature flower. Their color and strong scent are traditionally said to help guide the spirits of loved ones home, so you see them piled on ofrendas, scattered in petal paths and strung into long, glowing garlands.
A marigold garland is one of my favorite fall crafts because it is simple, inexpensive and looks incredible. You need flowers, a long needle and some string. That is pretty much it. In an hour or so you can make a garland long enough to drape over a doorway, wrap a porch post or frame a family ofrenda.
Here is how I make them, how to keep them looking fresh, what to do with them afterward, and how to grow your own marigolds so next year's garland comes straight from your garden.
A Little Background on Marigolds and Día de los Muertos
The marigold most tied to Día de los Muertos is the big, fluffy Mexican marigold, Tagetes erecta, often called cempasúchil (sometimes spelled cempazúchitl), a name that comes from the Nahuatl language. It is native to Mexico and Central America and has been grown there for centuries. The flowers are large pompoms of orange or golden yellow, and they have a strong, earthy smell that you either love or think of as very "marigold."
Families build ofrendas, or home altars, with photos of loved ones who have passed, their favorite foods and drinks, candles, sugar skulls, papel picado and lots of marigolds. In Arizona, you will find celebrations, altar displays and processions in many communities, especially in Tucson and Phoenix. Making your own garland is a lovely, hands-on way to take part, whether you are building a full ofrenda or just honoring the season on your front porch.
What You Need
Flowers:
Fresh marigolds, the bigger and fuller the better. African or Mexican types (Tagetes erecta) give you those classic big orange and yellow pompoms. French marigolds (Tagetes patula) are smaller but work too and come in rusty reds and bicolors.
How many? It depends on bloom size and how tightly you pack them. As a rough guide, plan on about 10 to 15 large blooms per foot of tightly packed garland, fewer if you space them out with beads or leaves. A 6-foot garland might take anywhere from 50 to 90 flowers.
Supplies:
A long needle. A doll needle, upholstery needle or long darning needle (5 to 7 inches) makes this so much easier, because you can stack several flowers on it before pulling the string through.
Strong string. Waxed thread, heavy cotton crochet thread, embroidery floss doubled up, or clear fishing line all work. Fishing line is nearly invisible; colorful cotton thread can become part of the look.
Scissors or garden snips.
A towel or sheet to work on, because marigolds can stain and they shed petals.
Optional: gloves (marigold sap can bother sensitive skin), a spray bottle of water, and extras like dried chiles, small paper flowers, wooden beads or bay leaves to mix in.
Where to Get Your Marigolds
From your garden: If you planted marigolds this fall, you may have plenty of blooms right now. Cut them in the cool morning when they are fully open but still firm.
From a market or store: In the days before Día de los Muertos, many Arizona grocery stores, Mexican markets and flower stands sell big bunches of cempasúchil. This is the easiest route if you need a lot of flowers.
From a nursery: Six-packs or gallon pots of marigolds in bloom are usually available in fall. You can harvest some flowers for the garland and still plant the rest.
Buy or cut your flowers no more than a day or two before you plan to string them, and keep them in water in a cool spot until then.
How to Make a Marigold Garland, Step by Step
1. Prep the flowers. Snip each bloom off its stem, leaving about a quarter inch of stem attached below the flower head. That little green base, where the petals meet the stem, is the strongest part of the flower, and it is what you will pierce. Remove any damaged outer petals.
2. Measure and cut your string. Decide how long you want the finished garland, then add about 18 inches for tying off and hanging. Thread the needle and tie a big knot at the end, or tie the end around a small bead or a short piece of stick so the first flower does not slide off.
3. Thread through the base, not the petals. Push the needle up through the bottom of the green base and out through the center of the bloom. If you go through the petals instead, the flower will tear and fall apart. With a long needle, you can load four or five flowers before pulling the string through.
4. Decide on direction. For the classic look, thread every flower facing the same way so the blooms stack face-to-back into a fat, continuous rope. For a looser style, alternate directions, or space flowers an inch apart.
5. Slide and pack. Gently push each batch of flowers down the string, snugging them against the previous ones. Packing them tightly makes the garland fuller and helps the blooms hold each other upright.
6. Mix in accents (optional). Every few flowers, add a dried chile, a wooden bead, a small paper flower or a few bay leaves. Alternating orange and yellow marigolds in a pattern also looks great.
7. Tie it off. When the garland reaches your length, finish with another knot, a bead or a loop for hanging. Leave long tails of string on both ends so you have plenty to tie it up.
8. Mist and hang. Give the finished garland a light misting of water and hang it where you want it.
Garland Styles and Ideas
Once you have the basic technique, you can play around with the design.
Classic ofrenda garland: Long, thick, tightly packed strands of orange marigolds draped across the top of the altar or arched over it.
Doorway swag: Two or three strands of different lengths hung across a doorway or window.
Porch post wrap: Spiral a long garland around a porch post or railing.
Two-tone twist: Make one orange and one yellow strand, then twist them together.
Mini garlands: Short strands of 6 to 10 flowers to wrap around candle jars, picture frames or a mason jar vase.
Wreath: String flowers on floral wire, bend it into a circle and twist the ends together for a round marigold wreath.
Petal path: Save the petals that fall off during the craft and scatter them in a path leading to your ofrenda.
How to Keep Your Garland Fresh
Fresh marigold garlands look their best for about two to five days, depending on the heat. In Arizona, our dry air works against fresh flowers, so a little care goes a long way.
Hang the garland out of direct afternoon sun and away from heaters or hot walls.
Mist it once or twice a day with a spray bottle.
If you are making it ahead, lay the finished garland in a damp towel inside a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator until you hang it. Do not freeze it.
Indoors, keep it away from heat vents and fireplaces.
Expect a few petals to fall; that is part of the charm.
Drying Your Garland
When the celebration is over, you do not have to toss the garland. Marigolds dry well and keep a lot of their color.
Hang the garland in a dry, shady spot with some airflow, like a garage, a covered patio or a spare room. In our desert air it usually dries within a week or two. The flowers shrink a bit and the color deepens toward rust and burnt orange, which looks great as fall decor through Thanksgiving. Dried marigold petals can also be added to potpourri.
Save Seeds for Next Year
This is my favorite part, because it turns a one-time craft into a garden project. Dried marigold heads are full of seeds.
Let a few blooms dry completely, either on the garland or on the plant.
Pull the dried flower head apart. The seeds are the long, slim, dark spears with a pale tip, packed inside the base.
Spread them on a paper plate for a few more days to make sure they are fully dry.
Store them in a labeled paper envelope in a cool, dry place.
One flower head can give you dozens of seeds. Keep in mind that seeds from hybrid marigolds may not come back exactly like the parent, but you will still get marigolds, and the surprises are half the fun.
Growing Marigolds in Arizona
If you want next year's garland to come from your own yard, marigolds are one of the easiest flowers to grow here. They like full sun and well-drained soil, and they are not fussy about fertilizer. In fact, too much fertilizer can give you lots of leaves and fewer flowers.
Timing in the low desert: Marigolds do best in our mild seasons. You can plant transplants in fall, roughly September through October, for blooms into early winter, and again in late winter through early spring for blooms before the summer heat. Plants often slow down or struggle once summer temperatures climb past 100 degrees.
Timing in higher elevations: Plant after your last spring frost and enjoy flowers through summer into fall.
For Día de los Muertos blooms: In the low desert, start seeds or set out transplants in late summer to early September. Big African marigolds take longer to bloom than small French types, so give them a head start.
Care tips:
Water deeply when the top inch or two of soil is dry, and try to water at the base rather than over the flowers.
Deadhead spent blooms to keep plants flowering, unless you are letting a few go to seed.
Tall African types may need a short stake in windy spots.
Watch for spider mites in hot, dry weather. A strong spray of water on the undersides of the leaves helps.
Marigolds also make great companion plants in the vegetable garden. Lots of gardeners tuck them between tomatoes, peppers and squash to brighten the beds and attract pollinators and beneficial insects.
Final Thoughts
A marigold garland is a simple craft with a lot of heart behind it. It takes an afternoon, a needle and a few bunches of flowers, and it fills your home with color and that unmistakable marigold scent. Whether you hang it on an ofrenda to honor someone you miss or just across your front door to celebrate the season, it is a beautiful way to mark the start of November in Arizona.
And when it is done, save those seeds. Next year, your garland can come straight from your own garden.
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