Daisies and a Friend

​We lost a dear friend last week.  This post will honor Marlen by writing about one of her favorite flowers – daisies.  There is much symbolism associated with daisies and for this post I’m going with “cheerfulness”, which perfectly describes my friend.  And who can look at a daisy and not smile or be cheered? 

​There are a dozen or so species found here.  We think of daisies as wildflowers but they are native to Europe and Asia.  Some are considered invasive in North America, especially the Oxeye daisy.  The cultivated types are mannerly and stay put where we place them in our gardens.  The yellow center disc has hundreds of tiny fertile florets just waiting for pollination and the white petals make for handy landing areas for insects to do just that.    
 
The original scientific name for daisies was Chrysanthemum leucanthemum but has since been reclassified to Leucanthemum vulgare.  Most of our garden plants will have a botanical name of Leucanthemum xsuperburn indicating a hybrid with a cultivar name in apostrophes.  The most used common name for garden plants is Shasta Daisy and some good cultivars to consider for the garden are: ‘Alaska’, ‘Becky’, ‘Silver Princess’, and ‘Switzerland’.  The original hybrid was created by Luther Burbank (1849-1926) in the 1890's near Mt. Shasta in California.

I have what I think is ‘Becky’ in my garden.  These plants have been with me for over 30 years and I have moved them three times to a new home, the last time from Madison to Hayward, Wisconsin.  Shasta daisies are considered short-lived perennials. There is a trade-off in cutting them back after blooming to lengthen their life and leaving the seed heads to potentially self-seed.  I’ve gone with the later approach with success. Most are considered hardy to zone 4 or 5, so my success in zone 3 is my good fortune.  ​

I appreciate its thick stem making for a great cut flower.  It is a long-lasting bloom both in the garden and in the vase.  Shasta daisies appreciate full sun, mine do well with about 6 hours. ​

​​According to the Missouri Botanical Garden :
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Good soil drainage is essential. Wet soils in winter can be fatal. Tolerates some light shade, particularly in hot summer climates or when plants are being grown in dryish soils. Remove spent flower heads to promote additional bloom. Divide clumps as needed (every 2-3 years) to maintain vigor. Plants are somewhat short-lived. Consider cutting stems back to basal leaves after flowering to preserve plant energies and perhaps prolong plant life.
 Um, maybe I should think about dividing them?  I have never done that and really don’t want to push my luck on this. 

Oxeye daisies with Hawksweed and grasses.

​The Oxeye daisy is also in my gardens.  These are shallow rooted so are easy to pull out before they get a chance to reseed.  I do leave the volunteers in my wilder areas because they are so cheerful and it would be a losing battle to remove them all since there will be others to replace them.  These too are great in a bouquet. 

I’m glad to have had my daisies for many decades, just like a long-time friend they bring memories and a smile.  ​