Daisies

I know that fall is on its way, but let me show you one of my favourite summer garden flowers - the daisy. Daisies are hardy herbaceous perennials and therefore, very easy to grow. They can be grown from seed. but are just as easily grown from container plants available in garden centres in early spring. This first photo is of my tall Shasta Daisies. They grow about 3 feet tall. They flower throughout July and last for a long time. If I deadhead them, they will continue to produce flowers well into September. This tall variety makes for a good cut flower.


It is thought that the name, "Daisy" comes from "day's eye" because the flowers open in the early morning. I haven't really noticed this with my daisies. They tend to open and stay that way for several weeks. The flowers are made up of white petals around a yellow centre. The centre is an assortment of hundreds of tiny tubular Florette's. This makes the daisy an effective pollinator. Over the past few weeks I have noticed that goldfinches come to sit on the spent flowers and eat the seeds. Yesterday I heard their familiar chirping and noticed that I had dozens of goldfinches, black capped chickadees and vireos in my garden. They were busy eating the seeds of my lavender and coneflowers too. It was such a happy sight!

This next photo is of a different variety. It is a smaller daisy, growing only about 10-12inches tall. I planted this one several years ago and I have lost the tag that went with it. I think it is one of the newer varieties, since the flowers are much whiter and larger than my Shasta Daisies. Daisies are in the Asteraceae family. There are over 20,000 species! They include daisies, asters, gerberas and dahlias. Lettuce is also a member of this same family as well as artichokes, sunflowers and endive. Their genus has been under dispute. Some botanists now list it as Leucanthemum but it had earlier been listed as chrysanthemum.


Daisies have astringent properties and have been used in folk medicine as a skin cleanser. In ancient Rome, surgeons who accompanied warriors into battle extracted the juice from sackfuls of daisies in order to treat spear and sword wounds. This pale yellow one is my favourite!



Daisies are simple, yet sophisticated. They are one of the most beautiful in the floral world - at least in my opinion. They convey cheer and symbolize purity and innocence. According to Celtic legend, each daisy represents a child who died at birth. As the daisies bloom each year it is a gift from God. These are the flower whose petals are picked off one by one as a hopeful young girl yearns, "he loves me, he loves me not, as in Goethe's Marguerite in "Faust". Old wives tales believed that eating daisies would stunt your growth, hence the saying, "please don't eat the daisies". And who can forget the daisy chains we made as children to wear on our heads, in our hair or around our necks and arms? According to medieval tales, a girl wore a wreath of daisies on her head to tell her suitor that she accepted his proposal of marriage. And let's not forget the morbid saying, "pushing up daisies", which came from the poet John Keats when he announced on his deathbed that he could already feel the daisies growing above his casket.

Family: Asteraceae.

Seeing Yellow - Rudbeckia

My garden is bright and sunny at the moment. The yellow from my Black-Eyed Susans lights up the flower beds, even on overcast days! Known by the botanical name of Rudbeckia, they are a wild flower in many parts of the United States. There are about 20 species, which include annuals, biennials and perennials. I started with only one tiny plant about 20 years ago. Since then I have divided it many times. My plants are growing all over the neighbourhood! My DD told me that her garden is now covered in them too. And her neighbour also has a whole garden full because of the plants which she gave her a few years ago. I don't know what I will do with all these plants next year. I guess I'll just put them into pots in early spring and set them out by the road for friends and neighbours to help themselves. This is Rudbeckia fulgida Goldsturm.

The next photo is of Rudbeckia hirta. They look very similar to the other Black-Eyed Susans, the R. fulgida Goldsturm, but this one is an annual or perhaps a biennial. It might have come to my garden from the fields and ravines around us. The flowers look the same, but the leaves are very narrow on this plant and it grows tall and lanky. The other Rudbeckia in my garden are more compact. Their leaves are rounder and the plants don't grow quite as high. The R. hirta come up all over in my garden, but the R. fulgida Goldsturm only grow in the established areas or where ever I plant them.

A few years ago I planted a couple of plants in my front garden, right by my front door. These have taken over. They are about three feet tall and blooming like crazy! They are a happy welcome to visitors to my house. These plants are often called cone flowers because of the dark centres which form a high, round centre. Goldfinches love to come to my plants and eat the seeds out of the cone-shaped centres once they have ripened.

Family: Asteraceae. Genus: Rudbeckia. Species: R. hirta and R. fulgida Goldsturm.

Common Name: Black-Eyed Susans.

Yarrow - Achillea millefolium

I have had Yarrow growing in my garden for over 25 years. It's a herbaceous perennial and comes back every year. I cannot say that I am extremely fond of this plant. I fact, I have often thought of taking it right out of my garden.


The only thing that stopped me from doing so was the cat we had some years ago, called Tobi. He was our favourite cat back then and he loved to sleep in my yarrow. It has long, feathery leaves that provided an inviting spot for this tabby. There he would spend his hot summer days - comfortable on the soft yarrow leaves, shaded by the towering umbrel-like blossoms and watching the butterflies and other insects who were attracted to this plant. He was a happy cat!

Here he is on an Easter morning!

We had Tobi for almost 19 years. He was a wonderful cat - no bad behaviours, just a faithful furry 'boy'. He even helped with the laundry! Tobi lived a long happy life in our family until his kidneys gave out. He passed away quietly in our solarium one New Year's Day.

We had him cremated and the following spring, we buried his ashes in the garden, under the Yarrow plants that he loved so much. Now I look at my Yarrow plants with a smile, thinking of that wonderful cat who graced us with his presence for so many years. I will never dig it up!

Yarrow is drought resistant and will grow in even the poorest of soil. There are many common names for this plant and it has a long history of medicinal use. It has even been grown as a food product. The young leaves have been cooked like spinach. It has a history of being used for everything from an astringent, a tonic, a stimulant and as a dressing for open wounds. The Genus name of Achillea is based on the belief that Achilles carried this plant into battle to treat his soldiers. Yarrow can be used as a beneficial companion plant. It supposedly keeps away bad bugs and attracts good ones. It is also said to improve the health of the plants around it.

The yarrow I planted is a light pink colour. But this year I noticed that I also had some white yarrow growing right next to the pink. It was much shorter and came into bloom a couple of weeks before the pink yarrow. Also, it's leaves are smaller. I think it might be a wild variety. I have no idea how it got there, but I am going to let it stay - in Tobi's honour.

Family: Asteraceae. Genus: Achillea. Species: A. millefolium.

Common Names: Yarrow, Common Yarrow, Nosebleed Plant, Soldier's Woundwort.