Childhood memories of daisy chains, plucking petals – he loves me, he loves me not – dreaded daisies in the lawn (bellis perennis) – the simplest of flowers yet they’re rooted so deeply into our subconsciousness. With their irresistibly smiley faces, they are one of our most cheerful spring flowers, ranging from giant sunflowers to tiny kingfisher daisies – this is the the asteraceae family of which there are some 1500 genera, mostly commonly known as daisies.
Many that we grow here in Spain are from South Africa – that other Mediterranean clime country with typically long, hot, dry summers and short, cool, wet winters (in theory!) – we are part of the loosely linked chain that botanically unites western China, parts of the Himalayan foothills, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Mediterranean coastline countries, Gulf Stream U.K. and Ireland, Chile, Peru, South Africa and California. Like many Mediterranean plants, they are ‘estival’ which means that they’ll go summer dormant, whilst holding on to their leaves. They come into new growth with autumnal rains, mature, flower and set seed during winter and spring before ‘closing down’ again – the opposite of many northern European plants. This is what makes them so drought tolerant, heat resistant and gorgeously showy now.
Four of our best daisies originate in South Africa – osteospermum, gazania, arctotis and felicia – all immensely colourful, tough sun-lovers.
There are around seventy members of the osteospermum genus, the Cape daisy, and they are found in grassy plains, rocky mountains and forest edges. Some 50 years ago, they were relatively unknown to European gardeners and it is only fairly recently that the genus has been split into dimorphotheca for the annuals and osteospermum referring to the perennials; the popularity of both is on the increase. They bear large daisy
flowers ranging from a brilliant white, through soft yellow, pink, purple, burgundy, burnt orange. terracotta and yellow. Many bear very distinctive darker eyes. Modern breeding has produced some ‘spooned’ varieties with twisted petals known as ‘whirlygig’. The osteospermums require full sun to open, though the shading on the backs of the petals is very attractive too on cloudier days. Cool nights produce better flowering and if night temperatures remain too high, they will stop flowering for a period – so cooler foothill conditions suit them well. Liking a reasonably fertile but light soil they are an exceptionally useful groundcover, needing very little water. Deadhead to prolong flowering and give an occasional feed and trim over; they will repay the attention with months of daisies. Propagate from non-flowering, semi-ripe cuttings in early autumn – they should root within the month.
The aptly named treasure flower or gazania, spreads its mats of foliage into sunny areas. The most common cultivar is g. rigens and it comes in a wonderful array of rainbow colours – from creamy white, through yellow, orange, scarlet, bronze and russett many with striking, splashy stripes and big black eyes. Propagate from seed, late summer cuttings or simply by dividing clumps. If you live in Australia, make lots of them because, apparently, they’re a delicacy to wallabies!
The gousblom in Afrikaans, arctotis, or African daisy competes to steal the show with its 50 floriferous species. A. venidium with its dark-eyed exotic look is aptly known as the Monarch of the Veldt. All arctotis are particularly good in poor soil or very sandy conditions, loving hot beachside locations and cuttings take very rapidly in sand.
And to cool down all those burning colours, try the charming little felicia, often called the Swan River or kingfisher daisy. This one has 84 species, most of which are native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. F. amelloides, with its yellow centre is the one we’ll most commonly see here, though look out too for f. heterophylla which is totally blue, cool and moody. An evergreen shrublet, unlike most of the other daisies, this one does not close its flowers at night. It’s a good ground stabilizing plant. Trim over to dead-head with a more vigorous regenerating pruning every couple of years.
Gerbera are also native to South Africa and are commonly called Transvaal or Barberton (the daisy town) daisy. A touch more tender than the previous four, its sturdy stems and beautiful flowers come in a stunning range of colours including soft pastels such as pale pink, peach and yellow through to vibrant shades of red, maroon, golden-yellow, orange and hot pink. It is our 5th most popular flower.
Argyranthemums are the typical daisy, commonly known as Paris daisies or marguerites. Native to the Canary Islands and Madeira, they are immensely useful in our gardens, quickly forming mounds of foliage, about 1m x 1m, and are available in white, pale yellow and a range of pinks. Give them a hard prune every early springtime to stop them getting leggy and falling apart.
Shasta daisies, leucanthemum superbum, are native to Europe and prolifically produce the typical white daisy flower with yellow centre and white petals. Clumping and spreading, they are very easy to grow.
The most common daisy species worldwide is the chrysanthemum genus native to eastern Asia and first cultivated in China. In the Far East it is held in great prestige, symbolising friendship, love and joy whereas in much of Europe it is associated with death, being much used for floral decoration in cemeteries, especially around All Souls and All Saints Days. Florists make great use of this flower because of its long vase life. They commonly call it the painted daisy and colours range through white, yellow, pink, red, purple and rust. Breeding has led to a huge range of hybrids, doubles, pom poms, spiders etc.
Coneflowers – rudbeckia and echinacea – are currently very in fashion; they are called that because their petals tend to curve back exposing the centre in a cone shape, particularly useful for pollinators. Rudbeckias, from Missouri area, U.S. are typically yellow, though there some russet shades too. Echinacea, from the plains of North America, are a washed-out pink-purple with more recent introductions of white, rich purple, yellow, red and sunset shades. Plant both of these in groups for real impact.
All these daisies are tough, hardy, drought and wind tolerant, fast growing, long flowering, and beautiful too – can’t ask for much more, can you? Oh, yea, almost forgot, butterflies and bees adore them – so get planting!
Viveros Florena, Cómpeta, Málaga.
Tel: 689928201/Email: florenaspain@hotmail.com/viverosflorena@gmail.com
Open 10am until 4pm, closed Sundays and Mondays.
We will be open 1st May.
Food and Health Market every Wednesday morning.
