Hi Debra, It sounds like something has sucked the life out of your plants. Spider mites are the number one pest of marigolds. To see if your plants are infested, shake the plants over a sheet of white paper and look for crawling dots. The mites are very tiny. You can also inspect the plants using a magnifying glass. Look for fine webs, eggs, and mites on the undersides of the leaves. If the infestation is bad - and it sounds prtetty bad if the leaves have shrivelled to twigs - the best thing to do is bag it up and remove it from your landscape so it doesn't infect your other plants.
Hi Debra, It sounds like something has sucked the life out of your plants. Spider mites are the number one pest of marigolds. To see if your plants are infested, shake the plants over a sheet of white paper and look for crawling dots. The mites are very tiny. You can also inspect the plants using a magnifying glass. Look for fine webs, eggs, and mites on the undersides of the leaves. If the infestation is bad - and it sounds prtetty bad if the leaves have shrivelled to twigs - the best thing to do is bag it up and remove it from your landscape so it doesn't infect your other plants.