Daisies are one of the most recognizable and common flowers. Nearly everyone can recognize the classic shape of a daisy: white petals surrounding a bright yellow center. However, there are thousands of varieties of daisies, ranging in size, shape, and naturally occurring colors. Some daisies you may not even realize are daisies.
The popularity of daisies is based on just how common the flowers are, like roses, but without the price tag. A bouquet of daisies can be picked up inexpensively for a girlfriend or wife, as a surprise. These beauties come in so many colors, and can easily be dyed colors that they don’t naturally come in, that the big blooms can complement nearly any garden.
Planting daisies in your garden is a great place to start for beginners, as sun-loving daisies grow quickly, continuously, and are pretty tough to kill, whether by too much love, or not enough.
Some of the most common daisy flowers that you may not even have realized are daisies are waiting for you to find a place for them in your garden!
1. Gloriosa Daisy
Gloriosa daisies, or rudbeckia hirta, are more commonly known as black-eyed susans or brown-eyed susans. These are annuals that bloom in late summer and early autumn. Widely cultivated in parks and gardens during the summer for summer displays, wildflower gardens, and prairie themed beddings, this is also the Maryland state flower, and can be seen at nearly every Maryland festival. The vase life of gloriosa daisies is about 10 days.
2. Marguerite Daisy
Marguerite Daisies, or argyranthemum frutescens, are commonly called Paris daisy. This variety of daisy is native to the Canary Island, with thicker petals than other daisies. They are popular as an ornamental plant in gardens and parks, and do best in full-sun. They bloom throughout the spring and summer, although they are most beautiful in the spring. In private gardens, they are frequently used at the borders of houses because they grow continuously. These big, beautiful blooms attract a lot of butterflies, so butterfly watchers tend to love these showy flowers.
3. Shasta Daisy
Shasta Daisies, or leucanthemum x superbum, are commonly grown perennials with the classic daisy appearance of thin white petals around a bright yellow center. Shasta daisies are a hybrid produced in 1890, and have become a favorite garden plant and ground cover. Like other members of the daisy family, shasta daisies are popular because they’re easy to grow and hard to kill.
4. Gerbera Daisy
Gerbera Daisies are native to the tropical regions of South America, Asia, and Africa. These come in bright shades of yellow, orange, white, pink, or red, and are widely used as ornamental flowers or plants. Gerbera daisies are actually the 5th most cut flower in the entire world, and last up to a week in a vase, making them popular with flower arrangers. These big showy blooms are attractive to both bees and butterflies, but vulnerable to deer, so a fence may be required to keep your gerberas alive.
5. Purple Coneflower
Purple Coneflowers, or echinacea purpurea, are perennial, ornamental flowers that, like most daisies, love the sun. This variation is native to North America, and has been used for medicinal purposes by native peoples for hundreds of years. Wild-growing purple coneflowers are almost always the vibrant purple we tend to see in gardens, which makes these flowers popular, like black-eyed susans, in wildflower or prairie gardens.