I love love love marigolds.
What a feast for the eyes! And they havfe a special role in gardening: they repel pests of certain vegetables...
tomatoes
cabbage
broccoli
brussels sprouts
cucumbers
Here is a little narrative (I included the source, a web address)...good things to know before you start planting..or even after. You can squeeze some of these plants in between the plantings you want to protect.
Garden Companions and Enemies
http://users.netconnect.com.au/~ewood/companion_planting.html
In recent years many of the traditional herbal remedies used in earlier times have come back into favour. The use of herbs in tonics, teas and medicinal compounds has created a new interest in a variety of plants.
Many culinary and medicinal herbs are strongly aromatic. Their pungency can act as a deterrent to many insects and garden pests and in this way they protect other more succulent plants from attack. Other flowering and herbal plants are used as trap plants, luring predators away from prized fruits and vegetables under cultivation.
This technique of companion planting has come to be recognised as an effective way to reduce the need for unnatural pesticides in the home garden.
In Japan, for example, a traditional farming technique uses alternate rows of wheat and tobacco to prevent disease and pest infestation of either crop. The use of such mutually beneficial plantings can be similarly applied in the home vegetable garden using aromatic herbs and flowers which are known to deter or trap various insect pests.
As well as the pest repellent herbs, some flowers, such as marigold, calendula, zinnia, nasturtium and the white geranium not only brighten up the vegetable garden but repel pests while attracting bees and other natural pollinators necessary for a bountiful harvest of crops.
Nasturtiums and marigolds protect cucumbers, the marigold being particularly effective in repelling nematodes or eel worms from cabbages, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
Zinnias, along with radishes, help to deter the cucumber beetle and the tomato worm.
Geraniums repel beetles from sweet corn, asparagus, kohl rabi and soybeans. These flowers can be combined with herbs to form a protective boundary of plants not only around the vegetable garden but within it also.
Some vegetables are known for their insect repelling qualities: garlic, onions, parsley, chives, turnips and radishes all contribute as useful companion plants. Their pungent aroma repels many flying insects, ants, beetles and aphids.
Turnips are useful in the garden border, repelling aphids, spider mites and flies. Radishes help repel cucumber beetles and squash bugs. Chives and parsley also dispel aphids and are useful planted amongst roses in the flower garden.
Within the garden, the pungent aroma of mint, tansy, pennyroyal nasturtium and zinnia will also help to ward off aphids and ants from susceptible vegetables. Mint, sage and thyme are good and useful companions for cabbage, protecting it from the cabbage root fly.
Rosemary and members of the onion family - garlic, shallots and chives - are useful in deterring the carrot fly.
Basil keeps pests away from tomatoes, as does dill, which acts as a trap plant for the tomato worm, as well as being a good companion plant for celery.
Many plants are good companions and thrive next to each other: peas and carrots, potatoes, beans and marigolds, beets and broccoli, radishes and cucumbers are some of the happy combinations.
Parsley, basil, asparagus like tomatoes, carrots grow well with onions, chives and garlic, but certain other vegetables resent growing close to any of the onion family and may be killed off by their proximity. Broad beans and the dwarf and climbing peas do not flourish next to onions, garlic or chives. Peas help turnips, corn likes cucumber and potatoes, bush beans thrive near celery.
With a little planning the vegetable garden can become a new and interesting place to observe the effects of good companion planting.
The above item was from an article by Barbara Ready in 'Your Garden' February 1982
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