{"id":275,"date":"2011-10-10T05:59:06","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T13:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=275"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:32:34","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:32:34","slug":"montauk-daisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/montauk-daisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Montauk Daisy"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTAUK DAISY
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Nothing says “small world”\u009d like a plant that originated in Japan, bears the name of a Native American tribe and flourishes happily in many parts of the United States. The plant in question is the Montauk daisy, sometimes known as the “Nippon daisy.”\u009d\u00a0 Back when about a million species were included in the genus Chrysanthemum, the Montauk daisy was known as Chrysanthemum nipponicum–in other words, the flowering plant that came from Japan.\u00a0 Now, taxonomists, who have a fondness for extreme precision, have given the autumn blooming daisy its own genus–Nipponanthemum.\u00a0 People who follow the taxonomists’ lead refer to the plant as Nipponanthemum nipponicum–literally, the Japanese plant that came from Japan.\u00a0 Perhaps this would make more sense if you could hear the taxonomists’ explanation.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, most people will not worry about the Latin name.\u00a0 They will, however, continue to plant this big, shrubby, broad-leafed daisy in garden beds and pots.\u00a0 In addition to its impressive, golden-centered blooms, the Montauk daisy features relatively broad, leathery or waxy leaves.\u00a0 The foliage is pleasantly scented–at least to the majority of noses–and the season of bloom is fairly lengthy.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unlike the ox-eye daisies of spring and the ever-increasing gang of Shasta daisies that bloom in early summer, the Montauk daisy doesn’t even think about opening its petals until fall.\u00a0 This year, the plants are blooming just as the asters are beginning to fade, creating a nice segue into the very end of the growing season when the garden mums produce their flowers.\u00a0 If you don’t have any garden mums to partner with your Montauks, think about investing in some for the spring.\u00a0 They are different from the “hardy”\u009d mums sold in every retail outlet, because they come back reliably and increase handily over the years.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nipponanthemum nipponicum probably arrived in the West in the second half of the nineteenth century.\u00a0 The plants are tough and adaptable and have even naturalized in places like Montauk, on the far eastern end of Long Island.\u00a0 The area–and therefore the flowers–acquired the name from the Montaukett tribe of Native Americans, who lived there before either European settlers or Asian daisies staked their claims.\u00a0 Long after the departure of the Montauketts, the daisies put down roots in the sandy soil and flourished, leading people to think they were native plants.\u00a0 I am sure that like many garden favorites, they were originally propagated by division and passed from gardener to gardener.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Plant breeders, who have created endless new varieties of species like heuchera and echinacea, have not fiddled with the Montauk daisy, so you won’t have to worry about choosing among cultivars that grow large or small or sport blooms in a bewildering array of colors and configurations.\u00a0 There are very few mail order nurseries that ship Montauks, so you have to find them in local garden centers and big-box merchandisers.\u00a0 Fortunately this is not a problem, as they are everywhere in the fall.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the last few years, I have seen more and more Montauks in containers, displacing the more traditional mums on front porches, decks and terraces.\u00a0 If you do this and also have garden space, you can try planting them in the garden after they have finished blooming.\u00a0 Some experts, including the late Ralph Snodsmith, advise against this, on the grounds that the plants will not have time to settle in before hard frosts.\u00a0 I take a slightly different view, since survival depends entirely on where you live and how quickly winter comes on in any given year.\u00a0 To my way of thinking, there is no harm in trying permanent installation on a plant that would otherwise have gone to the composter or ended up at the curb on trash day.\u00a0 If it lives, you will have a stalwart garden performer.\u00a0 If it dies, you won’t have lost much.\u00a0 Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the winds and expose your Montauk daisies to the elements.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Montauks are undemanding plants, which accounts for their popularity and longevity.\u00a0 They like a sunny site and, like many plants that flourish in coastal areas, they do best in well-drained soil.\u00a0 My Montauk is growing in the strip between the sidewalk and the street.\u00a0 It is quite happy and I attribute that to the fact that the soil has been thoroughly amended with rocks as the result of curb construction, road resurfacing, water line drilling and other utility and infrastructure-related activities.\u00a0 I take out all rocks bigger than my fist, but that still leaves a lot of smaller stones and pebbles to help provide the necessary drainage. \u00a0My Montauk got through last winter’s hellacious snow barrage, the early summer drought, the late summer monsoon and the hurricane.\u00a0 It is still looking good and I expect great things from it in years to come.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the current perpetually wilting economy, it is nice to know that Montauk daisies are as close as any gardener can get to a blue chip investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTAUK DAISY \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing says “small world”\u009d like a plant that originated in Japan, bears the name of a Native American tribe and flourishes happily in many parts of the United States. The plant in question is the Montauk daisy, sometimes known as the “Nippon daisy.”\u009d\u00a0 Back when about a million species were included in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/1516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}