I've been using marigolds around my tomato and pepper plants for several years now. They do seem to help protect the tomato plants from bad bugs. Most of my marigolds are just starting to flower now. I started them myself, and I started them kind of late in the pre-season.
Nice! Did you use seed you saved yourself, or did you buy seed? I've had to buy the plants the last two years due to spacing constraints in the greenhouses late winter through mid spring.
My mom has actually used marigolds around her tomato plants to help prevent cutworms for decades, which is where I originally got the idea to use them at work. I personally think they are effective at least somewhat based on personal observations. And I've seen claims that planting them around tomatoes actually helps to protect the marigolds from some of the pests that they actually attract. Something about how they both produce very strong scents, and the marigold scent repels common tomato pests, while the tomato scent repels common marigold pests.
In the past, I've used seeds that I saved, but I didn't have any seeds this year so I bought them.