Daises Represent What's So Right About Gardening by Lindsay Bond Totten
Scripps Howard News Service
A garden chock full of nothing but daisies would be pretty boring. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't plant at least two-dozen more varieties than we do now.
Daisies represent what's so right about gardening. They're wonderful, cheerful, exuberant flowers, simple, sophisticated and every compliment in between. They're often the first blooms young children pick to give to their mothers. And yet, daisies never stop speaking to the child in most of us.
Planting daisies in abundance is equivalent to hanging a floral "welcome to my garden" plaque on the front gate. And at the opposite end of the trowel that's weeding them, most likely rests the hand of a gardener who's open, friendly, sharing, and ... smiling.
Nature must consider daisies one of her finer accomplishments--and justifiably so--because she provides us with such a dazzling array of daisies and daisy-like flowers. Gardeners can select from a rainbow of colors in any number of sizes. Many are perennial, though there are lots of annual daisies, too.
"Daisy" is rather a generic term referring to blooms with a central "disk," made up of hundreds of tiny fertile flowers, surrounded by delicate, brightly-colored "rays," or petals. Because each multiple flower resembles a single bloom (at least to our eyes, if not to the insects that pollinate them), daisies were for years known as "composites" and embraced by the family Compositae.
Botanists could no longer abide it, however. Several years ago, daisies were switched to the aster family, Asteraceae. Indeed, many of them do look like asters ... or is it the other way around?
With a little planning, your garden need never be without some daisies blooming, from early spring until well after frost. Jump-start the season with the daisy-like blooms of Anemone blanda. They're not really daisies, but they'll fool passersby. Plant the tiny anemone bulbs in fall for long-lasting early spring blooms in white or blue.
Following soon after Anemone blanda comes the English daisy (Bellis perennis). This species is generally recognized as the original "daisy" (from the Old English "day's eye"), referring to the way the charming pink and white blossoms open with the sun. Bellis perennis combines joyfully with forget-me-nots in the spring garden.
Also a bit temperamental is the short-lived fleabane daisy (Erigeron spp.). Beautiful blue aster-like blossoms are so sweet, however, and sprawly plants bloom for such a long time each spring that fleabane seems worth the trouble. It's not a regular in my garden, but I start some every few years just to renew by relationship with this old friend. Into the heat of the summer we plunge--a glorious time for daisies! The snow-white petals of Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum superbum) wink a cheerful greeting from the perennial border, where they cavort splendidly with daylilies of all shades.
I like 'Becky' the best, for stout stems that don't need staking, but 'Alaska' and 'Switzerland' have their share of fans, too. 'Snowcap' is a dwarf variety. Perfect for cottage gardens are the tall yellow stems of golden marguerite daisies (Anthemis tinctoria). Tireless bloomers in the bright summer sun, perhaps they wear themselves out, because individual plants last only a couple of years.
Prolong their stay in your garden by cutting back spent flower stems (the same is true for most types of daisies) to the basal leaves and making frequent divisions of small offshoots.
No space for a perennial border? Container gardeners can choose from a lively selection of annual daisies. Charming in a windowbox or large urn is the cascading foliage of African daisy (Osteospermum ecklonis). I'm partial to the white form, for the metallic blue "eye" is unique, but the newer purple variety seems a bit more generous with its blooms.
Gerbera daisies are handsome annuals and available in a host of classy colors--the deep salmon has no rival. To get around the fact that Gerberas are rather stingy with their flowers, try combining them in containers with pretty herbs or the delicate blooms of baby's breath.
Early autumn is when daisies really shine, thanks in no small part to the very special Nippon daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Bold semi-succulent foliage gives rise to 3-foot flower stems covered with large snow-white blooms.
Combine them with the gracious blue mounds of late-blooming Aster x frikartii (another daisy-like plant) and the golden sprays of 'Fireworks' goldenrod for a spectacular conclusion to the floral season.
(Lindsay Bond Totten, a horticulturist, writes about gardening for Scripps Howard News Service.)
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