Family: Asteraceae
Common name: Shasta daisy, Max chrysanthemum
Shasta daisies are beautiful flowering plants loved for its pristine white flowers, thick green foliage, and ease of growing.
Plant characteristics
They usually reach a height of 50-70 cm with shallow but thick roots and multiple stems. Each plant produces stems that radiate outwards, and produces roots when the leaf nodes touch the soil, thus creating a large cluster of plants.
Leaves are lance-shaped, about 10-15 cm long with fine tooth-like serrations along the margins, especially in younger leaves.
Flowers are the most striking feature of the Shasta daisy plant blooming abundantly in spring and summer with lovely white flowers that are 8-10 cm in diameter.
These flowers have 20-30 white ray florets and numerous yellow, densely-packed disk florets. Butterflies and pollinating insects love these flowers, and hence they can be used in butterfly gardens.
Once pollinated, the flowers produce small fruits that contain a single seed, which are dispersed by wind, water, or by small animals.
Once the flowers mature, the outer white petals droop down and eventually fall to the ground leaving the central disk florets to develop into seeds.
Gardening tips
Shasta daisies love bright, direct sunlight for 6-8 hours a day, a typical Asteraceae sun-worshipper. The plants can grow in semi-shade, but they will grow lanky without many flowers. The soil should be well-drained since over-watering can lead to rotting of stems that are closer to the soil.
Regular watering and fertilization is needed during the summer months when the growing and blooming plant needs nutrition. Deadheading or removing spent flowers will help the plant produce more flowers. It is prudent to divide the plant every 2-3 years to help thin them out, and also to have more flowers in other parts of your garden.
These plants are very easy to grow and fuss-free once they are established in the soil. They will slowly spread over your garden with long stems that grow outwards from the parent plant.
In cold weather, the plant would die down. But the seeds buried in the soil can produce new plants when favorable weather conditions return.
Shasta daisies are mostly grown as ornamentals but they also have some medicinal uses in the treatment of fever, inflammations, stomach ailments, and respiratory problems.
They can be grown as border plants or even in large pots that will be the centerpiece for your garden. Grown along with Petunias or Nasturtiums, they can create a kaleidoscope of contrasting colors in your garden.
Propagation
Propagation can be done easily through seeds, stem cuttings, and root division, all of them very effective and quick.
Photographed at: Toronto, Canada and Kensington garden, London
