Everyone knows daisies as the small white flowers we used to make chains with when we were children but the daisy family is huge - there are more than 32,000 species in the daisy family!
And there must be some sort of proven scientific feel-good factor about looking at daisies – they never fail to make us smile, bobbing about with their open, upturned blooms and petals stretching to the sun. Indeed some of our most loved and coveted garden plants are daisies of some sort or other – even when we don’t realise it! Sunflowers, for instance, are a long way removed from what many people would call daisies.
But here are a few GN garden favourites, the perfect pick of the daisies to start growing now for a summer of sunshine…
Summer essentials
Must-have blooms that are easy to grow and long-flowering
Cosmos bipinnatus – A popular and easy annual border filler with feathery foliage and perfect papery flowers. Sow indoors now for plants to set out next month, or simply sow direct in May in sunshine.
Oxeye daisy – Our very own native wildflower daisy, a classic bloom for your own little meadow spot. Give it full sun or part shade and the bees will come flocking. Sow direct now for summer blooms.
Calendula – There are a lot of beautiful different forms of this cheery little orange number to sow direct now, though ‘Indian Prince’ with mahogany tinges is an elegant one, with unusually tall stems at 60cm.
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ – Everyone’s favourite branching perennial sunflower with soft creamy lemon blooms covering the plant. Let it take centre stage in a sunny border or in a pot. Plants available now.
Mexican marvels
Many well-known daisies originally hail from sunny Mexico – here are some of the best!
Erigeron karvinskianus – Fleabane will cause you no bother and thrive prettily in sunshine for much of the year. Let it spread and you’ll never need to plant it again! Sow it directly now, sprinkled around in sun.
Tithonia rotundifolia – Mexican sunflowers are like little pockets of heat in summer, embracing the sun with vivid, almost neon orange marigold blooms. Sow under cover now and plant out at the end of May.
Dahlia ‘Twyning’s Smartie’ – This bi-coloured beauty needs some patio room this summer! An odd one to try and mix with other plants, let it shine alone in a large pot. Tubers available now from Marshalls.
Late summer lovelies
Daisies are often synonymous with late summer – plant these now to get established in a few months
Helenium – In red, orange and yellow, the hues of this charming, bulky daisy conjure up August and September days in rusty, late-season tones. Available to buy for planting now in full sun.
Echinacea – Go for a whole mélange of greens, pinks, oranges and sunset shades for this tall, show-stopping daisy, which pollinators love. Plant small plugs now for blooms next year, or go for larger plants.
Rudbeckia – Golden masses of flowers with eye-catching brown centres. An injection of colour for the middle of a late summer and autumn border. Plant now so they get going and bulk up for later on.
Sunny sunflowers
Everyone loves a sunflower! Here are some brilliant varieties for every garden
‘Claret’ – What a shady character this is, in sumptuous chocolate brown, burgundy in sunshine. A fantastic talking point that’s mid-height, so not too tall. Sow seed now and plant out properly in a few weeks.
‘Italian White’ – Creamy, ghostly white, which teams well with dark varieties. A beautiful cut flower that can be sown now and planted out in pots and borders in a few weeks. Can also be sown directly, as other sunflowers.
‘Little Dorrit’ – If you don’t want to grow huge, looming sunflowers that shoot up the side of a house, this one’s for you! A dwarf variety at just 60cm tall, it’s one for the front of a border or a pot in a small garden.
Something different
Here are a few species you may not have heard of yet, but will soon be adding to your garden!
Kalimeris incisa – Aster-like froths of scruffy pinky-blue daisies that flower from summer through to late autumn. Known as the Korean aster, it’s easy and reliable in full sun. Hardy and floriferous, give it a go!
Crepis rubra – Otherwise known as the pink dandelion, this is a superb hardy annual to sow now in sunshine, reaching 40cm tall. Super easy and one for direct sowing. It’s a mystery why this isn’t more well known!
Berkheya purpurea – A most extraordinary daisy in a lovely lilac-silver colour. Quite easy to get hold of but not well known. Called the South African thistle, it has characteristic thistle leaves but sunny sunflower blooms.