Everyone loves a daisy, but if you like your flowers big and bold then go straight for the shasta daisy.
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This is a classic perennial plant with large, robust blooms of white with yellow centres.
This plant grows profusely and flowers through late spring, summer and into autumn.
The botanical name for this plant is Leucanthemum × superbum. The genus name is from the Greek leukos, meaning white and anthemon meaning flower.
To ensure you say the species name correctly look at it as superb-um and not super-bum.
The plant when in full flower really is superb!
As a member of the Asteraceae family the use of the word flower is really deceptive.
What looks like a flower is really a cluster of flowers (around 150-300) giving the appearance of one flower.
Have a really close look at a daisy, each ‘petal’ is really a flower in its own right and the centre is made up of lots of small flowers crammed into a tight disc.
These plants are often herbaceous perennials, which means they die down and then re-shoot when the weather warms up, however the specimen pictured doesn’t die down at all. We did cut it back last winter and it has re-shot brilliantly.
Shasta daisies are very easy to care for and low maintenance plants.
They are excellent as a cut flower and simply stunning in a garden bed.
There has been a fair amount of hybridisation with this plant, so there is some variation available with flower form and plant size.
The hybrids of this plant were originally developed by Californian plant breeder Luther Burbank well over one hundred years ago.
A native of Europe and northern Asia, these plants are also useful and suitable for containers and make a great pot plant.
For successful growth this plant needs full sun and a reasonably fertile soil which is well-drained.
Water and feed these plants regularly to give you more growth and for taller varieties you may need to add a stake or two.
Propagated by either seed or cuttings, this hardy plant is great for filling in an empty spot in the garden.
Mulch well for summer and maybe add a bit of compost once a year and this plant will reward you with an amazing floral display.
Diary
Sunday, December 4: The Friends of the Albury Botanic Gardens are having a Christmas clearance plant sale.
Make sure you head to the nursery at the gardens in Smollett Street, from 10am until 2pm, for some great bargains.