By María Julia Castañeda
Mexico City (EFE).- Despite the rise of foreign raw materials, such as Chinese seeds of the emblematic cempasúchil flower, which adorns altars, tombs, and even the country’s streets around the Nov. 1 and 2 celebration, farmers and artisans in Mexico City claim that Day of the Dead traditions survive thanks to the Mexican hands that maintain them.
In the Zócalo, the capital’s main square, cempasúchil flowers (some grown from Chinese seeds) are sold alongside hand-painted cardboard skulls and other products made by artisans and floriculturists for local consumers and tourists.
Many of the producers come from Xochimilco, a district south of the city.
Concepción García, 34, is part of the third generation of her family’s flower-growing business, which operates in greenhouses and chinampas, a pre-Hispanic agricultural system built on lakes.
García says that recently, she has had to explain to customers the differences between the various flower varieties she offers because many believe they are «Chinese,» a variety known as «marigold» or «Marvel Gold.»
«Everything here is made in Xochimilco. It’s just that the seeds are brought to us from abroad. We defend our product because we cultivate it,» she said.
García recalled that in 2024, the family business experienced a «terrible economic downturn» because most buyers were looking for the «traditional variety,» which has a potent aroma and is not «Chinese.»
In 2025, floriculturists opted to plant both varieties: the traditional variety and the «Marigold,» which is characterized by its large pompom shape.
According to García, 2025 was a «difficult year for producers» due to flooding of the Nativitas canal in Xochimilco (a principal tourist spot), which inundated the greenhouses and caused a 10% loss of the nearly 35,000 plants her family had planted in July. Some of her uncles planted 5,000 plants, but only managed to sell between 500 and 1,000.
Nevertheless, García highlighted that sales are going well and recognized the local government’s support in enabling her to sell her flowers at the Cempasúchil Fair and in other locations throughout the city.
According to figures from the capital’s government, over 6.3 million flowers produced in Xochimilco were transported to these locations.
There is no recent official data, but in 2021, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) estimated that over 90% of the seeds used for cempasúchil production in Mexico were imported, mainly from China and the United States.
From the fields to pieces of art
At the other end of the Zócalo, María Gabriela Guzmán sells cardboard skulls, a craft she has practiced with her family in Xochimilco for 20 years. Her family also cultivates carnivorous plants and cempasúchil flowers.
While her colleagues produce the flowers, she brings them to the Zócalo to sell and support them.
Guzmán believes that «it doesn’t matter if the cutting comes from another country; the important thing is that this plant has a profound meaning at this time of year.»
«When it grows in the fields and turns yellow, it announces the arrival of the souls,» Guzmán, an artisan and promoter of Xochimilco’s cultural identity, noted.
She believes that the arrival of foreign elements does not threaten Mexican Day of the Dead traditions because these traditions have survived for centuries and grown stronger. For example, the 2015 James Bond film Spectre inspired the first Catrina Parade in Mexico City in 2016.
The cardboard artisan points out that the film sparked renewed interest in cartonería (cardboard art) and popularized «monumental catrinas,» like those adorning the Zócalo esplanade.
«It has made it possible for people dedicated to art, design, or cartonería (cardboard art) traditions to have more access to the market and the possibility of creativity,» Guzmán added.EFE
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