{"id":3117,"date":"2020-07-07T06:38:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3117"},"modified":"2020-07-07T06:38:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:38:00","slug":"daisy-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/daisy-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"Daisy Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"daisies<\/a>My house was built in 1882.\u00a0 Two years later, in 1884, botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) began to build a better daisy.\u00a0 Another seventeen years passed while Burbank crossed various daisy species.\u00a0 Finally, in 1901, he introduced a new ornamental plant named after Mount Shasta, one of California\u2019s natural wonders. \u00a0The Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum, was born, and today several healthy stands of them are blooming in my front garden. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think about the daisy\u2019s historical appropriateness when I planted the first gallon pot fifteen years ago. \u00a0I am gratified that in addition to looking spectacular at this time of year, Shastas are, historically, one of the best plants for my little home landscape.<\/p>\n

Another corner of my garden contains a much smaller stand of Leucanthemum vulgare, the common ox-eye daisy, one of the parents of the Shasta.\u00a0 The ox-eye is a winsome plant, gangly at about eighteen inches tall, with narrow, dissected leaves and one and a half inch white-petaled flowers.\u00a0 You can find it in fields and other out-of-the-way places, and it is lovely in its own way \u00a0Burbank, who also worked magic on potatoes, plums and a host of other species, was a great believer in the idea that everything could be made better through science, including the daisy.\u00a0 He created the \u201cAll-American\u201d Shasta by crossing the ox-eye, which is native to Europe and parts of Asia, with other daisy species that originated in England, Portugal and Japan. \u00a0All of these adventures in foreign affairs took place at Burbank\u2019s home in Santa Rosa, California. Given its multi-national heritage, it is not surprising that the Shasta became a favorite worldwide.<\/p>\n

Shastas are classic \u201cpass along\u201d\u009d plants because they are so easy to grow. \u00a0Like their field daisy ancestors, they are not fussy about soil, and thrive in just about any sunny spot. \u00a0Once established, they do not need a lot of supplemental water.\u00a0 The plants multiply rapidly into healthy clumps, but if the clumps grow too large, dividing is easy.\u00a0 Simply dig up the clump, divide the roots with a sharp spade or a garden utility knife and replant the divisions. \u00a0Doing this every few years will keep the daisies healthy.\u00a0 When bloom time rolls around in late June or early July, pick the flowers or deadhead the plants to promote rebloom.<\/p>\n

Over the years hybridizers have taken up Burbank\u2019s \u201cbetter daisy\u201d crusade and created their own spins on the original. The number of new cultivars increases every year, with flashy new specimens replacing older ones on garden center pallets.\u00a0 One, \u2018Chuck\u2019s Delight\u2019 is so special that it can only be obtained by visiting Luther Burbank\u2019s Gold Ridge Experimental Farm in Sebastopol, California.\u00a0 Most others are more readily available.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t get to Sebastopol, consider going to the local nursery and picking up Leucanthemum x superbum \u2018Becky\u2019. \u00a0\u2018Becky\u2019 has big, bright single flowers with crisp white petals and quarter-size yellow centers. \u00a0It grows to be about three feet tall on sturdy stems that resist flopping. \u2018Becky\u2019 is such a stellar performer that the Perennial Plant Association named it their \u201cPerennial Plant of the Year\u201d way back in 2003.<\/p>\n

Other, slightly shorter single-flowered varieties include \u2018Alaska\u2019, which reaches about twenty-four inches tall.<\/p>\n

For smaller spaces or containers, try little \u2018Tinkerbelle\u2019, a dwarf variety that grows only eight inches tall and has single flowers.\u00a0 The slightly larger \u2018Shortstop\u2019, at 12 inches high, is another small space option.\u00a0 For full-size flowers on a relatively compact plant, try \u2018Whoops A Daisy,\u2019 which grows 16 inches tall.<\/p>\n

For those who believe that nothing exceeds like excess, there are several double-flowered varieties of L. x superbum, not to mention more than a few that are beyond double, with flowerheads that look like the aftermath of a small explosion.\u00a0 The aptly named \u2018Adorable\u2019 is short at 10 to 14 inches tall with a double row of petals and a winsome corona of small yellow petaloids ringing the center. \u2018Belgian Lace\u2019, rising only 10 to 12 inches, features double rows of narrow, rather shaggy-looking white petals.\u00a0 It is similar to the equally frilly \u2018Aglaia\u2019, which may grow up to 24 inches tall.<\/p>\n

For some hybridizers no combination of frills, quills, crests or triple petal rows is enough–color is what matters.\u00a0 \u2019Real Sunbeam\u2019 substitutes sunny yellow petals for the white of more common varieties.\u00a0 Scrumptious \u2018Banana Cream\u2019 blooms in a softer, buttery shade that ages to ivory.\u00a0 I saw it for the first time, fell in love and moved it directly into my garden.\u00a0 I found a somewhat older variety, \u2018Sunshine\u2019 at a wonderful nursery in central New York State and installed it in the beach garden at my family\u2019s summer cottage.\u00a0 For a yellow variety that looks more like a chrysanthemum, try \u2018Lemon Puff\u2019, with two-toned yellow blooms.<\/p>\n

There are some people who would probably say, \u201cA daisy is a daisy,\u201d and wonder why anyone would be interested in the many hybrid Leucanthemums. \u00a0There are others who try to acquire every single cultivar. \u00a0Most of the rest of us fall somewhere in between those two extremes. \u00a0If you want to expand your Shasta repertoire, check with your local nursery, which may well carry varieties from either Monrovia or Proven Winners. \u00a0\u00a0For further selections contact Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Road, Madison, OH 44057, Phone (800) 852-5243, www.bluestoneperennials.com<\/a>. \u00a0Free print catalog.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My house was built in 1882.\u00a0 Two years later, in 1884, botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) began to build a better daisy.\u00a0 Another seventeen years passed while Burbank crossed various daisy species.\u00a0 Finally, in 1901, he introduced a new ornamental plant named after Mount Shasta, one of California\u2019s natural wonders. \u00a0The Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum, … 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":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[2335,2334,1221,1223,1220,91,1241],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-hybrid-daisies","tag-leucanthemum-becky","tag-leucanthemum-x-superbum","tag-luther-burbank","tag-shasta-daisy","tag-summer-flowers","tag-summer-perennials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","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=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3119,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions\/3119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}