Cempasúchil fields around Atlixco

What it is

Cempasúchil is the Mexican marigold, the orange flower whose colour and strong scent are said to guide the dead home on the Day of the Dead. Its name comes from Nahuatl and is often explained as flower of twenty petals. The state of Puebla grows more of it than any other, and the warm valley around Atlixco, a town known for its plant nurseries, is one of the centres. Through October the fields turn solid orange, often edged with the deep red of velvet flower, a crested cockscomb. In the last week of the month families cut the crop by hand, bundle it and truck it to markets across the country.

Before you go

• Go in the third or fourth week of October. After the harvest the fields are bare.
• Ask the farmer before walking in. Many welcome visitors and sell bunches at the field edge.
• On a clear morning the volcano is visible behind the fields. Cloud builds by afternoon.

The flowers you will see

Aztec marigoldThe golden-yellow flower of Mexican altars and Day of the Dead offerings

Also part of it, and being written: Celosia.

More in Mexico

🇲🇽 Mexico City · All yearThe plant markets and flower farms of XochimilcoThe canal district in the south of Mexico City whose name means place of the flower fields, and which still grows them. 🇲🇽 Mexico City · All yearMercado de Jamaica, Mexico City's flower marketA huge covered market open day and night, with more than a thousand stalls of cut flowers and finished arrangements. 🇲🇽 Mexico City · Mar to AprJacaranda season in Mexico CityFrom late February into April, jacaranda trees turn the avenues and parks of Mexico City violet. 🇲🇽 Oaxaca · Oct to NovBuilding a Day of the Dead altar in OaxacaBuy marigolds at the market and help dress an ofrenda, the home altar that welcomes the dead in early November.