There are many flowers that we look at and immediately think 'Daisy' but there's so many different types it's hard to describe what we are looking for when trying to buy it for our gardens. They all refer to plants that are in the Asteraceae family. In this piece I will go into some of the different 'Daisy' type plants, what their actual names are and a little bit about them.
Bellis perennis (The common daisy) - This is the well known classic 'Daisy'. The one that grows in abundance all over our lawns and that we make daisy chains with. It is often viewed as a weed by those who want the perfect lawn but the bees and other pollinators love it.
Erigeron (Fleabane) - You would be forgiven in thinking that the Common Daisy and this were the same thing. The flowers are nearly identical and their leaves are very similar. The main difference is the height. Erigeron grows in quite a messy, bushy fashion. It will also tolerate terrible soil making it a great plant for unsightly areas that nothing else will grow on, they also look great in planters.
Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy) - This is a tall, large headed daisy type plant with the white petals and yellow centre. It's often seen in hedgerows and meadows. It's commonly put in wildflower mixes as the pollinators also love it. It is fairly tolerant of most soils aside from struggling a bit in overly dry areas.
Osteospermum (African or Cape Daisy) - Now you couldn't mistake these for the classic daisy as the colours they come in are bright and bold. Reds, purples, oranges and near blue they are an excellent choice for planters and small borders to give a blast of colour. They are quite small and compact, so great in smaller neat areas.
Rudbeckia hirta (Black Eyed Susan) - Rudbeckia's are a firm favourite of mine. They are all easy to grow and they have blooms that seem to last for months. They tend to be tall (at least 1ft) and grow in bushy clumps with multiple flower heads. You can find them with bright yellow petals and black centres to rich wine red petals with black centres. They are a fantastic choice for larger border beds or bigger planters. They will also put up with quite a bashing so they can be cut back hard if they're getting unruly and it will only encourage more flowers.
Echinacea (Coneflower) - Again this is another favourite of mine. It comes in many many varieties but a couple of ones that stand out for me would be 'Purple Magnus' and 'Cherry Brandy'. They are tall, not as bushy as Rudbeckia and don't produce as many flowers but what they lack in number they make up for in show. Purple magnus has beautiful delicate purple petals around a dark purple centre and Cherry brandy has dark red angular shaped petals around a red/black eye. There are loads of varieties of Echinacea and they are really worth a look as the many different colours and shapes of the flowers means you are bound to find one you will fall in love with.
So next time you think of a 'Daisy' , have a look to see if you can narrow it down to which type, or better yet see how many different varieties you can gather for your garden :)
