If you are looking for variety in the garden, Daisies are one group of plants that come in many types. Generally easy to grow, however conditions are determined by variety.
With so many plants loosely given the name ‘Daisy’ it is a little difficult to begin with a description and even more difficult when we asked, ‘where do we buy daisies’? And what were those flowers that we used to make daisy chains from?
We could make a generalisation that they all from the Asteraceae family and have ‘Daisy Like Flowers’ and leave it at that. However that is hardly an adequate explanation, so we will look at some of the better know plants that claim the name ‘Daisy’.
Daisy Varieties
One of the best known daisy varieties is the common Shasta Daisy which is Leucanthemum superbum, classic white flowers with a yellow centre, a bushy plant used as a filler in the garden and also as a ground cover plant.
The Australian ‘Everlasting Daisy‘ is Bracteantha bracteata, however that is only the ‘Golden Everlasting’, we also have Schoenia filifolia subsp. subulifolia ‘Showy Everlasting’ syn Helichrysum subulifolium, Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. rosea ‘Rosy Everlasting’ syn Helipterum roseum and Rhodanthe manglesii ‘Mangles Everlasting’or ‘Silver Bells’ syn Helipterum manglesi.
The Michaelmas Daisy is autumn flowering and known as Aster novi-belgii while Aster novae-angliae is known as the New England Daisy. And to add to the list we can also look at Aster sericeus (Silky Aster) and Aster umbellatus the (Umbel Aster) along with many more with ‘daisy like flowers’
What we in Australia call the Gerbera is also commonly known as the African Daisy. And Erigeron karvinskianus is one of a number os species called the ‘Seaside Daisy’
We also have Bellis perennis, which is the common English or European Daisy often regarded as a weed. So you could indeed go half crazy looking for daisies….. Use the botanical name and you might get what you are looking for.
And as for the Daisy Chains, that depends on where you were living at the time but ours were from Arctotheca calendula The Cape Dandelion also know as Capeweed.
Daisy plants are available for sale from the following nurseries
www.planterspatch.com.au
