Cempasúchil

“The tradition of Día de los Muertos came from way, way back in our history before we were conquered by the Spanish,” Rodrigo Cala told me as we stood in his greenhouse in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. “Every year on November 1st and 2nd we take time to honor our ancestors. In Mexican culture we set up ofrendas – altar offerings, made from traditional Mexican flowers like cempasúchil (Mexican marigold) and terciopelo (celosia)— to remember our families.”

Ofrendas are elaborate altars created during Día de los Muertos to honor deceased loved ones. Each ofrenda is unique and filled with carefully chosen items meant to guide and celebrate the spirits of family members who return to the world of the living on November 1st and 2nd.

Rodrigo began growing cempasúchil five years ago to bring his Mexican culture to Minneapolis and St. Paul communities. He now sells about 1000 potted flowers and 400 bouquets into the Twin Cities by partnering with other leaders in the Mexican community, “I started working with Monica Vega, a community leader from Michoacan. She brings ofrendas from Mexico City and Morelos, Mexico. Each different part of the country has different traditions in their ofrendas. It’s very important to show people how ofrendas are done differently depending on the region.”

The cempasúchil holds an essential place in Día de los Muertos because they are believed to help guide the souls of the departed back to the living. Their vibrant orange and yellow colors, symbolizing life and death, are highly visible and easy for spirits to follow. Additionally, the strong, musky scent of cempasúchil is thought to draw spirits to the altars, helping them find their way home during this special time of reunion.

These flowers are often scattered in pathways leading to the ofrenda, which is decorated with offerings for the dead. This tradition traces back to ancient Indigenous cultures in Mexico, such as the Aztecs, who associated the cempasúchil with the sun god and used it in ceremonies honoring the dead. Today, the cempasúchil remains a symbol of Día de los Muertos, representing the beauty and fragility of life and the powerful connection between the living and the deceased.

As a farmer raising a wide range of crops and animals, including Oaxacan Green corn, sheep, hogs, chickens, hazelnuts, and vegetables, Rodrigo’s flower production came easily to him. “I saw the quality of the flowers that were coming in from Mexico and I thought why don’t we grow the flowers here?” Rodrigo said as he walked up a row of young terciopelo plants. He was given access to a greenhouse facility in Osceola, near his home farm in Turtle Lake, to create a controlled environment to get his flowers through the cold nights leading up to Día de los Muertos celebrations. “These flowers don’t last when it’s cold. With a little bit of cold, these flowers die. The only way to grow these flowers in Minnesota and Wisconsin is to have these flowering greenhouses.”

For Rodrigo, this isn’t just about cultivating flowers; it’s about preserving a deep-rooted cultural tradition. Growing up in San Andres Mixquic, Mexico, where Día de los Muertos is a central celebration, cempasúchil holds special significance as the flower that guides the spirits of the departed back to the world of the living.

“I do this because I see how the new generation is starting to forget these traditions. This is important because Día de los Muertos is not like Halloween, it has a totally different meaning,” Rodrigo told me, which leads to his great mission in this project: creating a distinction between Halloween and Día de los Muertos. Unlike Halloween, which often centers on costumes and candy, Día de los Muertos is a reverent celebration focused on honoring family and ancestral heritage.

For many Mexican and Latin American communities, Día de los Muertos is an essential part of cultural identity. Conflating it with Halloween can lead to misrepresentation and commercialization of important traditions. Respecting the distinctions allows each celebration to be preserved and honored in its own right, helping to avoid appropriation and supporting cultural education.

Rodrigo and his children, who farm alongside him, sell potted and cut flowers to schools, museums, and families in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for their ofrendas and ceremonies. Each ofrenda is anchored by a photograph of the deceased, surrounded by traditional foods, liquor, and personal mementos to welcome their ancestors’ spirit back home. Candles are lit to illuminate their path, while cempasúchil and other flowers add color and fragrance believed to attract souls to the altar.

Each region of Mexico has unique varieties of cempasúchil and Rodrigo integrates more diversity each year. “I grow many different seeds. Every year when people start buying the pots and the bouquets, I learn a lot about different varieties from their homes in Mexico and how the shapes and scents of the flowers bring back memories. Every year we get more people trying to get flowers because we focus on flowers people can’t find anywhere else,” Rodrigo told me about how he selects what varieties to grow. Being a resource to the Latino community is not only important to him but also his family. “The first year we grew cempasúchil, my daughter told me, I didn’t know how important the Dia de los Muertos is for the Mexican people.”

Rodrigo’s mission to grow cempasúchil in Minnesota and Wisconsin is not just about cultivating flowers; it’s a commitment to preserving and sharing Día de los Muertos traditions. “We put them in our greenhouse in June, then we transplant them into pots or in the ground in July. They take a few months to grow. It’s really a long process,” Rodrigo said when I asked him about the time commitment of his cempasúchil production. By growing the flowers locally, he can ensure that Mexican and Latin American communities have access to these essential blooms for their ofrendas, keeping the celebration alive and accessible for future generations. 

For Rodrigo and his family, this project goes beyond agriculture. His children are discovering the depth of their cultural roots, as Rodrigo shares not only the flowers but the stories, rituals, and importance of Día de los Muertos with them. “The most important thing for me is bringing my flowers to the schools because we are teaching the next generation of Mexican-Americans in this country why this is so important for us,” Rodrigo told me. Each year, the flowers they grow contribute to a celebration that bridges generations, helping the local community honor its heritage in a deeply meaningful way.