Saturday’s Marigold Seed Exchange will feature Ofrenda Orange seeds donated by Grant County Master Gardener Kendra Milligan. Monday, March 18, 2019; Silver City, NM: On Saturday, March 23, residents can help keep the Silver City’s Día de los Muertos community ofrendas decorated with marigolds by participating in the Marigold Seed Exchange from 1 to 4 p.m. at Javalina Coffeehouse, located at 117 W. Market Street.

“The Marigold Seed Exchange is a good way for the community to get more involved and prepare for making the event more vibrant and energized,” said Diana Ingalls Leyba, one of the organizers for Silver City’s Día de los Muertos celebration.

The community is invited to bring their own marigold seeds to exchange and share, thus growing a wider variety of marigolds to bestrewn the community and family’s ofrendas. All marigold varieties are welcome! Participants can fill out an informational card about their donated seeds and select other seeds during the exchange.

Grant County Master Gardener and seed exchange organizer, Kendra Milligan is donating a marigold variety she has dubbed Ofrenda Orange, “The flowers are fist-size amber variety my father, Alfred Milligan, has been cultivating in the region for years. They look great with those smaller sangria-rojo marigolds.”

The seed exchange aims to promote flower diversity and seed sharing. Each variety of marigold seed donated will be sent to the Grant County Seed Library repository sites located at the Silver City Public Library and The Commons: Center for Food Security and Sustainability. Thus, available to the community for planting and sharing.

Seed exchange participants are urged to plant marigold seeds this spring, watch them grow all summer, then harvest the marigolds in Autumn to donate to the Día de los Muertos celebration on October 25 and 26 at Javalina Coffee House. Donated marigolds will be used to decorate the community ofrendas and strung for the annual parade on Sunday, October 27, 2019, on Market Street between Texas and Bullard Streets.

Polly Cook, owner of Javalina Coffeehouse, is excited to host the seed exchange and subsequent marigold gathering in October, “I’m a great lover of plants, and marigolds are my favorite flower with its diverse colors of gold, reds and orange varieties. It is such a simple yet noble flower.”

“Marigolds represent the fragility of life. The marigold's scent makes the returning souls happy and welcomed,” added Ingalls Leyba. An ofrenda creator will be on hand to speak about the symbolism of marigolds at 2 p.m. during the seed exchange.

The seed exchange is sponsored by Javalina Coffeehouse, Silver City’s Día de los Muertos and The Commons: Center for Food Security and Sustainability.

For more information contact Milligan at (575) 313-3031 or email: kendraclone@gmail.com.