Daisies grow best in open sunny places, but also tolerate partial shade, especially in the summer heat. They are also distinguished by high winter hardiness.
The soil for them should be loamy, loose, with a large amount of humus, but not greasy, with a moderate content of organic matter.
In dry and hot times, daisies need watering, otherwise their inflorescences will begin to shrink, lose their fullness and stop flowering. They also need watering in windy weather.
Daisies are very responsive to the addition of organic and mineral fertilizers. They should be fed in May, when they begin to bloom, by applying liquid fertilizer, for the preparation of which 2 tablespoons of nitrophoska and 2 tablespoons of Agricola-Fantasy are diluted in 10 liters of water and 1 liter of solution is poured under each bush of the plant.
Since these plants retain leaves and buds in winter, they must be covered with dry leaves.
Daisies that are planted on heavy soils may suffer from bulging in the spring. This is the name for the process when they rise above the ground on their roots. To prevent this from happening, before sowing or planting, the soil should be fertilized with humus and good compost, and coarse sand should be added. The reason for bulging bushes can also be a sharp change in temperature, which drops to below zero at night and rises above zero during the day. Such temperature changes are especially dangerous in the absence of snow cover. To avoid this phenomenon, the plantings should be mulched using peat, humus, sawdust and other materials, the layer of which should be approximately 8 cm. If in the spring it becomes obvious that bulging has occurred, then the plants should be transplanted to a new location .
Daisies - transplantation and propagation
Daisies are propagated using seeds, cuttings and dividing the bush.
Seeds are usually sown at the end of June. The emergence of seedlings should be expected in 10-12 days. After another 2 weeks, you should pick the seedlings and water them with the addition of complete mineral fertilizer (from 20 g to 30 g per bucket), and in August, plant the seedlings in open ground so that the distance between plants is from 15 up to 20 cm. Here they can already winter in order to bloom by the spring of next year. Every year daisies self-sow abundantly. However, in order to preserve the most beautiful double varieties, plants are propagated by dividing the bushes. They are dug up in August of the second year and divided into separate rosettes with roots. One plant can produce up to 10 new bushes. The daisy can be successfully transplanted even in a blooming state.
Daisies - diseases and pests
Daisies are very resistant to diseases and pests. However, they can be affected by septoria daisy blight or cercospora blight, which can be identified by spots on the leaves. Plants may also experience root rot due to exposure to Texas root rot. To combat all these diseases, appropriate fungicides are used.
In addition to fungal diseases, daisies can be affected by cutworm caterpillars and slugs. In this case, a metaldehyde preparation is laid out (30 grams of the preparation must be used per 10 sq. m.).
The daisy is a flower about which legends are made. Many gardeners have been growing it in their flower beds with success for a long time. To date, more than 80 daisy honeycombs are known. These flowers come in a full range of colors. Therefore, they are very loved by landscape designers. With the help of daisies you can create very beautiful compositions.
Daisies belong to the Astrov family. This plant is native to Australia, Europe and America. Almost everything modern views These flowers came from one species, the perennial daisy.
Garden daisies develop a rosette in the first year. In the second year, peduncles appear that reach a height of 20-30 cm. Beautiful inflorescences-baskets appear on each peduncle. The number of such inflorescences on one plant can reach 25-30 pieces.
Gardeners use about 30 species of daisies. There are early and late varieties. In addition, daisies can have inflorescences of different shapes and sizes. Flower growers are especially fond of double varieties of daisies.
The most popular varietal series are:
- "Rominette" An early form of daisies. Large, densely double inflorescences are among the first to appear in the garden. These daisies can be planted in flower beds and borders. When planted in groups, these daisies can be used to create a beautiful thick carpet. They are also used in container gardening.
This type of daisy can be painted in one of four colors.
The most popular is “Carmine Rose”
- "Habanera" Another very popular type of double daisies. This flower has lancet baskets with a diameter of 6 cm. The most beautiful daisy of this species is painted in White color with red tip "White Visa Red".
This variety of daisies looks great next to ferns and low-growing coniferous plants. White Visan Red daisies are combined with early tulips, forget-me-nots and some varieties of hyacinths.
- "Tasso" Unlike previous series, daisies of this type have pompom-shaped baskets. Tasso daisies usually bloom early and are compact in size. Most varieties of this species can be used as carpet plants.
There are red, pink and white varieties of "Tasso". They prefer sunny open places, but in hot weather direct sunlight can depress the plant. With proper preparation, they tolerate winter cold well.
- "Robella" A variety that was bred not so long ago. Daisies of this variety have salmon-pink terry baskets of folded flowers. Rarely reach a height of 15 cm. This variety was awarded highest award International organization decorative floriculture.
Robella daisies will look beautiful in flowerpots, on a rocky hill and in the foreground of a mixborder. This variety of daisies can be combined with tulips, forget-me-nots, daffodils and violas.
The variety is also popular among Russian flower growers "Pomponette". It is distinguished by bulbous flowers.
Etna daisies have orange centers and dark purple petals. Variety "Schneebel" known for producing up to 20 large pom-pom flowers on one bush.
Most Popular early variety daisies is "Rosa Gigantea". And later "Beethoven". Varieties of daisies are suitable for container keeping or indoor forcing "Dresden China" And "The Pearl".
Daisy flowers: legends and beliefs
The word "daisy" is derived from the word "margarites". Which means “pearl” in Greek. According to one legend, the little Virgin Mary loved to look at the sky in the evenings. She wanted the stars to become flowers that she could play with. The stars sparkled in the droplets of emerging dew like pearls. And the next day, in place of dew drops appeared beautiful flowers- daisies.
Russian legends also mention this flower and pearls. The legend about Sadko says that when he came ashore, his wife Lyubava rushed to her lover and scattered her pearl necklace. In the places where the pearls fell, daisies appeared.
The daisy is sung by many poets. Shakespeare said about this flower, “Her white robe represents naivety.” Pliny named this flower Bellis"beautiful". This is the word used today to call the genus of this flower.
Daisies are revered throughout Europe. In France, it is customary to give these flowers a week before Easter (analogous to our Palm Sunday). Daisies decorate the windows of houses, gardens and parks. It’s a pity, but today these beautiful flowers are gradually being replaced by tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.
Daisies are very popular in England. Songs and legends are dedicated to them. With their help, girls tell fortunes by tearing off the petals of a daisy “loves or dislikes.” In German culture, due to this, daisies are called "measure of love". And boys, for the quick onset of spring, they must step on 12 forget-me-nots.
Medieval knights, who received consent for marriage from their lovers, placed an image of this flower on their shields. Most likely, this legend is associated with Countess Margaret, who gave this flower to Count Orlando before going on the Crusade. The count fell in battle, but his friends brought a flower to his beloved. It was stained with the blood of Count Orlando. Margarita planted the seeds of this flower in memory of her beloved.
Since daisies are the first to bloom buds in the garden, they are also called "eye of the day"(eng. Day's eye). The English shorten the name of daisies to Daisy.
There is another legend associated with this flower. One rich old man fell in love with a beautiful but young girl. Her poor parents were not averse to giving their daughter in marriage to a rich old man. But the girl didn’t want this and ran away. And in order not to be found, she asked the earth to hide her. The earth turned the girl into a daisy that blooms all year round.
At the beginning of the 20th century in Europe, daisies were used to raise money to fight tuberculosis. This experience was first gained in Sweden, where these popular flowers were sold and the proceeds were donated to hospitals. Later other European countries joined in. In Moscow, such an action was carried out in 1910. The sale of daisies generated 150 thousand rubles. Russian newspapers were full of headlines that Muscovites “threw flowers at death.”
Surprisingly, with such a love for daisies, these flowers also had a black stripe. In 1739 in Germany they were called poisonous and called for extermination. But the daisies survived and delight us today with their magnificent beauty.
Are daisies annual or perennial?
When grown wild, daisies are a perennial plant. But, flower growers grow this plant as a biennial. The fact is that already in the third year the varietal differences in daisies disappear, and the buds become small.
When to plant daisies: pompom, cape, little darling, African, terry with seeds for seedlings?
Since gardeners most often use biennial varieties of daisies, flowers sown in open ground will bloom only after a year. But, for those who want to enjoy the flowering of daisies earlier, it is best to plant them in open ground using seedlings.
For seedlings, daisy seeds are planted in special boxes or pots. They can be planted in late January - early March. The sooner you do this, the better. But, since the seedlings of these flowers require sun, it is advisable to increase daylight hours with the help of artificial lighting. Especially if you plant daisies in January-February.
When the air temperature warms up to 15 degrees during the day, the seedlings can already be taken out to the balcony so that the seedlings can “prepare” for planting in open ground.
When to sow daisies in open ground?
Pretty daisies unpretentious plants. They feel good on any composition. The exception may be soils that are excessively acidic and alkaline. A sunny area of the garden is best for daisies. These flowers, blocked by bushes or trees, feel worse than those that receive more light.
It is also important that the soil has good drainage. After clearing the ground of debris, pebbles and plant roots. Today you can buy regular daisy seeds or so-called panned daisies. Such seeds are covered with a special coating that contains nutrients and protects the seeds from pests.
If you are planting pelleted daisy seeds, it is very important to frequently water the area in which the seeds are sown. Water will gradually dissolve the shell and the sprout will sprout faster.
Regular seeds are best planted in open ground in March. When the soil warms up to the desired temperature (15–20°C). It is best to scatter the seeds evenly over the area and sprinkle with a small layer of sand or peat. If you plant daisies in holes, there is a risk of planting them at a depth that is too deep for these flowers. This will not only increase germination time, but can also lead to the death of the plant.
The planting site for daisies should be covered with film to create a “greenhouse effect.” Remove the film after 2-3 days. The soil should not be allowed to dry out. At proper care, planted in this way, appear in 1.5-2 weeks.
What do daisy seedlings look like?
The seedlings of daisies are not fundamentally different from the seedlings of other flowers. First two false leaves appear, and then the rest.
When to pick daisies?
Picking daisies is done with the appearance of the first true leaf. For this purpose, the strongest seedlings are left. The distance between them is left at 5 cm. If the daisies were planted in open ground, then it is best to form rows of them with a distance of 10 cm from each other.
Caring for daisies in the open ground
Daisies are easy to care for. They prefer excess moisture in the soil rather than a lack of it. It is advisable to periodically loosen the soil between the bushes and water 0.5 liters of water under each plant. If the soil in which they grow becomes dry, then when they bloom, the diameter of the daisies may become smaller than usual. Also, lack of moisture can affect terry. She might disappear.
For good growth and vigorous flowering, it is advisable to feed daisies. You can use the following solution: Nitrophoska (2 tablespoons), Agricola-Fantasy fertilizer (2 tablespoons) and water (10 liters). Each bush needs 1 liter of this fertilizer. A solution of bird droppings or mullein also works well.
As for daisy diseases, these flowers are less susceptible to them than other plants. The greatest dangers to daisies are caterpillars and slugs. You can fight them with the “Hom” solution.
Daisies can also be susceptible to gray mold, powdery mildew or rust. At the first signs of these diseases, flowers should be treated with Topaz.
In winter, to prevent low temperatures from causing the daisy bushes to freeze, they should be sprinkled with peat, leaves, humus or snow.
When to replant daisies?
These flowers are replanted in the second year after planting. They tolerate this procedure very well even during the flowering period. When transplanting daisies, it is necessary to maintain a distance of 15-20 cm between the bushes.
Reproduction of daisies by dividing the bush
The procedure for dividing the bush is best carried out at the end of July, at the beginning of August. To do this, dig up two-year-old bushes and divide them into 5-6 parts. At the same time, flowers, buds and damaged leaves must be removed and the roots slightly shortened.
New daisy bushes should be planted in pre-prepared holes, sprinkled with soil and watered generously. If necessary, you need to add more soil. Under favorable weather conditions, daisies will tolerate division and replanting well.
When do daisies bloom and how long do they bloom?
Depending on the variety and climate, daisies can bloom from April to November. Most species of this flower bloom profusely in late spring and early summer. And in the hottest month of July, their flowering stops and resumes in August.
In order to encourage the daisy to produce more buds, faded flower heads should be removed.
How to grow daisies on a windowsill or balcony in a pot?
You can also grow daisies at home. The easiest way to do this is to dig up a bush of these flowers from your garden and plant it in a large pot. This is best done in the fall, when the average day temperature drops to +8 degrees.
Prepare a bud favorable for this flower. It should be loose and fertile. Add humus and sand to this soil. The pot with the transplanted plant should be placed near the window. Then the daisies will receive the required amount of light and will bloom in December.
If you plant daisies in pots made from seeds, they will begin to bloom only the next year. Best time Planting the seeds of this flower is March-April. Pots or boxes with seedlings should be placed in a sunny window and watered moderately.
When the seedlings have their first true leaves, they can be planted in separate pots or transplanted into containers with several seedlings each. When rosettes appear, daisies can be grown like other house flowers.
In order for daisies to bloom profusely next year, they need to be placed in cool place and reduce watering to a minimum. At the end of February, the plants are placed on the windowsill again and watered as normal.
For a flower garden planted on a balcony, it is best to choose special containers for daisies, which are sold in hardware stores. And in order not to waste time watering these plants, you can buy and install special automatic systems moistening the earth.
Natalia. Very beautiful flowers. But they need constant watering. Their root system is located almost on the surface and if the soil dries out, the roots can be damaged. And this arrangement of roots does not allow them to withstand dry days. We are only at the dacha on weekends. Somehow we left and forgot to water it. It was a dry week and our daisies withered.
Svetlana. Very beautiful flowers. But I heard that they are also very useful. Based on them, you can make decoctions that help with bronchitis and kidney disease.
Video. Daisies care / low-growing perennial flowers
Daisy– elegant, colorful, and also unpretentious perennial flower. This charmer is called differently: button, pearl oyster, daisy. It cannot be said that growing daisies in open ground It’s difficult, but not everyone succeeds in consistently getting beautiful flowering year after year. To understand how to achieve this, let’s get acquainted with the intricacies of planting and caring for daisies.
What kind of flower is a daisy?
Daisy is a perennial plant, but is sometimes grown as a biennial because after 2 years, the plant significantly loses its beauty and decorativeness; it needs to be either planted or removed from the flowerbed. In addition, some terry varieties do not have very good winter hardiness and sometimes freeze out.
Winter-hardy low-growing varieties can be grown as perennials in carpets and flowerbeds; they form beautiful, constantly flowering areas. In discount gardens, daisy plantings are often interspersed with alternating annuals. In such plantings, the bushes grow greatly, begin to crowd out each other, and the flowers become smaller. Therefore, thinning is carried out every year, removing some of the bushes that can be planted in a new place.
Depending on the variety, daisies grow from 10 to 30 cm in height. The plants are low-growing and are used in borders and in the first rows of group plantings. They go well with daffodils, tulips, muscari, and forget-me-nots. They also practice growing daisies in flowerpots and pots.
Daisy flowers come in white, pink, crimson, carmine, salmon shades, simple, double and semi-double. The inflorescence is a basket with a yellow center. Size – 1 - 4 cm in diameter. petals different varieties tubular or reed.
In central Russia, daisies bloom from May-June until late autumn, but lush flowering continues until mid-July. In the hot summer, from this time on, the flowers lose their attractiveness, but the ripened seeds fall off, and after 2 weeks they germinate, new bushes are formed, which bloom again in the fall and bloom until the cold weather. However, the varietal properties of such plants, as a rule, are not preserved.
Large-flowered double varieties have a long, developed peduncle and are used for making bouquets.
Planting daisies in open ground
Specialized stores offer a large variety of daisies. When purchasing seeds, you don’t have to pay much attention to the packaging date, since even expired ones germinate well. Daisy seeds are small, there are a lot of them in a bag and with a germination rate of 50% (five years ago) you will receive a sufficient amount of planting material.
Sowing dates and site selection
Sowing daisy seeds in open ground is carried out at the end of June.
Partial shade, open shade, or places that are lit only in the morning are best for sowing. Sunny areas are also suitable, but in this case it is necessary to provide the plants with more moisture, otherwise the leaves will wither and the flowers will droop.
The daisy requires loose, light soil so that water can easily flow to the roots. At the same time, wetlands are not suitable; the daisy does not tolerate constant waterlogging.
Landing technology
- Loosen the soil prepared for planting and remove weeds.
- Having made grooves 0.5 - 1 cm deep and at a distance of 5 cm from each other, moisten the soil.
- Sow the seeds.
- Sprinkle lightly with soil, sand or humus: for germination the seeds need access to light and heat.
- From now on, spraying crops with a spray bottle 2 times a day is the main task.
Shoots and care for them
Shoots from fresh seeds will appear within 3-5 days, the germination percentage is high. After the emergence of seedlings, spraying is continued.
At first the daisy grows slowly, and then the bushes grow noticeably. As soon as the plants close together, they need to be planted in a permanent place, so that they have the opportunity to grow without touching each other: at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. Typically this work is done in August.
By autumn the bushes will turn into quite large, but compact. Daisies grown from seeds bloom the following year.
Planting daisy seedlings
If you want to get flowering daisy bushes this season, you need to grow seedlings.
- Seeds for seedlings are sown in March - April. Any light soil, even store-bought flower soil, is suitable as a substrate.
- The earth is moistened and lightly compacted. Seeds are sprinkled on top in rows, the distance between which is 5 cm. Lightly sprinkle with substrate on top and moisten with a spray bottle.
- The container with the crops is placed in a bright room with a temperature of about 20 degrees, and the soil is regularly moistened.
- Shoots appear in 1-2 weeks. After this, the soil continues to be moistened.
- After another 2-3 weeks, when their own leaves appear, the seedlings are picked. Seedlings should be kept in a place with maximum illumination so that the plants do not stretch.
- In late May - early June, seedlings can be planted in open ground.
- A week before planting, it is advisable to carry out several procedures for hardening the seedlings, taking them out into the fresh air.
Weeding
In the first two years, daisies need weeding. Subsequently, the bushes grow and independently crowd out the weeds.
Watering
Daisy is a moisture-demanding plant. Watering is needed regularly and abundantly, it is especially important to monitor this on hot and windy days. At the same time, you need to protect the plantings from flooding; the soil should have time to dry out a little.
Top dressing
If the crops are grown on sufficiently nutritious soils, fertilizing may not be necessary. But in order to achieve maximum decorativeness of daisies, it is advisable to do this.
- the first feeding - immediately after the snow melts; During this period, nitrogen-potassium fertilizers are applied,
- the second feeding - after the appearance of buds, is carried out using complex fertilizers, for example, nitroammofoska,
- third feeding - during the flowering period, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are needed.
You can also feed daisies and organic fertilizers, for example, mullein infusion.
You should not overdo it with the amount of fertilizer. Excessive nutrition leads to bushes growing to the detriment of flowering.
Transfer
With proper care, the root system of the daisy is well developed and the plant can safely tolerate replanting at any time, even during flowering.
Daisy propagation
Daisy can be propagated in the following ways:
- sowing seeds in open ground;
- cuttings
- dividing the bush.
For propagation by any method, it is preferable to use overwintered daisy bushes. It has been noticed that in this case, young plants die less often in subsequent winters.
When propagated by seeds, there is a risk of not obtaining plants with the decorative properties of the parent plant. To preserve varietal characteristics, cuttings and division of the bush are used.
Propagation by seeds
By mid-summer, the seeds on the daisy ripen. Inflorescences with unripe seeds can be cut off and left to dry in the sun. This will prevent unwanted self-seeding. The collection is carried out periodically, because The flowers do not bloom at the same time.
Seed propagation of daisies is described in the section Planting daisies in open ground.
Cuttings
Cuttings are carried out in May-June. At the same time, side shoots with several leaves each are cut off.
The cuttings are planted in partial shade on a bed with a loose top layer of soil and covered with non-woven material.
The earth is kept moist.
Rooting occurs in about 2 weeks. In August, the plants can be transplanted to a permanent location. Flowering will occur next season.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
Dividing a bush is not just one of the ways to propagate daisies. This is an important agrotechnical measure without which the plant “degenerates”, does not show lush flowering, the flowers become smaller and become like simple daisies.
To maintain daisy plantings in decorative condition, you need to divide the bushes once every 2-3 years.
You can divide the bushes in spring or late summer.
Spring division
This is what plantings look like in mid-May:
The planting site should be semi-shaded and constantly moistened, otherwise growth will be slow and flowering will be poor.
Autumn division
Most often, bushes are divided in late summer - early autumn. When the first wave of flowering subsides, the bush needs to be hilled. Hilling up must be carried out thoroughly, with the soil mixture getting between the rosettes.
By August - September, the hilled bushes will produce small leaf rosettes with a root system that can be separated and planted independently.
They are unattractive in appearance, but they can be planted directly in a flower garden and they will bloom faster than those grown from seeds.
Overwintering daisies
The daisy is considered a winter-hardy plant. But in the northern regions and when growing varieties that do not tolerate frost well, you can cover the plantings of daisies for the winter.
The bushes are lightly hilled and covered with leaf litter or covered with spruce branches or spunbond. This kind of shelter will be enough.
Diseases and pests
The daisy is little susceptible to diseases and pest attacks.
It may, however, be affected by fungal diseases: gray rot, powdery mildew. This can happen in cold, rainy years. For treatment, you can use drugs such as Fundazol, Topaz, Maxim, Skor.
Sometimes pests may also appear: caterpillars, beetles and slugs that eat leaves, as well as aphids and spider mites. To combat them, appropriate drugs are used.
From caterpillars, beetles and spider mite- Oberon, Aktellik. From slugs - Thunderstorm. From aphids - Aktara, Fitoverm.
Winter forcing of daisies
In winter you can get flowering daisy bushes. To do this, in the fall, dig up the required number of plants from open ground with a large lump of earth.
Place the material in boxes or pots and put it in a cold room (basement, loggia) with a temperature of -1...+1 degrees. Occasionally water a little, just enough so that the earthen ball does not dry out.
6 weeks before the desired flowering time, the plants are brought into a warm, bright room for forcing and regular watering begins in sufficient quantities.
The daisy is a flower that does not claim the title of star of garden design, but is quite content with the role of an extra. But, when planted in a group, blooming daisies set the tone for the entire geometry of the backyard landscape, emphasizing the boundaries of flower beds and walking areas, spreading like carpets along garden paths, creating a colorful foreground in front of high flower beds and maintaining clear boundaries of green lawns. How to plant and grow daisies, choose the right variety and make them bloom amicably and abundantly - all this requires certain knowledge and a competent approach, so we will dwell in more detail on the rules of agricultural technology for these modest, but infinitely cute flowering inhabitants of our gardens.
General description with photo
Daisies - low herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae or Asteraceae family. They have a small compact rhizome and a leafless peduncle stem growing from a dense basal rosette. The leaves of the rosette are spatulate-elongated, with a crenate edge. Each peduncle forms only one flower head with a conical receptacle. The inflorescences of the original species are bisexual, simple, species daisies look like yellow or white multi-petaled daisies. Decorative varieties can differ greatly from each other in size, doubleness of inflorescences and, of course, their color.
According to the life cycle, they are divided into annual and perennial, however, very often gardeners practice two-year cultivation of daisies, when in the first year compact green rosettes without flowers appear from the seeds, and in the second there is lush, abundant flowering.
If the buds are not removed as they wither (and this is not so easy to do, given that daisies are not planted individually, but in a continuous dense carpet), then the plant will actively self-sow. But this will not make the process of planting and growing varietal daisies easier, since the most ordinary flowers will grow, having lost their valuable varietal characteristics.
Ripe fruits are a flattened achene without a tuft.
Growing daisies from seeds
Sowing with personally collected seeds is justified only for species varieties. Ornamental varieties bred by breeders can be planted with seeds for seedlings only when they were purchased from the manufacturer. Sowing daisies can be done both as seedlings and in open ground.
Growing through seedlings
The seedling method is preferable from the point of view that in this case it will be possible to obtain flowering already in the current season. It all depends on when to plant the seeds. It is recommended to sow in February, or at least in early March, immediately using individual planting containers. The root system of daisies develops in breadth, which leads to injury to the seedlings during transplantation. Sowing is done in nutritious, structured, well-moistened soil without deepening. It is permissible to sprinkle a thin layer of sand on top. After this, the seeds need to be pressed well into the soil and the container covered with plastic wrap. Before the first seedlings appear, the dishes should be placed in a warm and well-lit place, but not in direct sunlight to avoid the formation of excessive condensation.
After germination, and this can happen after 1-2 weeks, you need to move the containers to a cool, but no less bright place. Winter daylight cannot satisfy the seedlings' need for lighting, so at first it will be necessary to supplement it with a lamp.
When to plant seedlings in open ground?
Daisies are light-loving plants that do not tolerate sudden soil frosts, especially at a young age. Therefore, seedlings are planted in open ground no earlier than the end of May or even the beginning of June.
Picking
The plant does not tolerate root injury well at a young age, so it is advisable to do without additional planting of seedlings in containers. It is better to sow the seeds with a quantitative reserve, and then carefully cut off the excess sprouts at the root with scissors. Seedlings are planted in open ground by transshipment, and if grown in peat pots, together with them. The distance between neighboring bushes should be 15-20 cm, taking into account the growth of the root rosette.
Planting seeds in open ground
The earliest date for direct sowing of seeds in open ground is the end of May. It should be understood that this year it is unlikely that full flowering will be achieved, since all efforts will be directed towards the formation of the root system and leaf rosette. Seeds in open ground will need to be sprinkled with a thin layer of sand to protect them from birds and wind. Everything is covered with a film on top, which is lifted daily for ventilation. It is convenient to plant seeds in rows. As soon as the density of seedlings can be assessed, excess plants are removed using scissors.
Do not uproot extra shoots from the ground, this will disrupt root system remaining seedlings and slow down their development.
Selecting a location
The place for planting daisies is selected primarily based on their decorative purpose, so you should be prepared for the fact that the composition of the soil in the selected location will have to be optimized for this crop. The question is simplified by the fact that daisies do not make great demands on the soil. But they feel best on light loam. Water should not stagnate in this place; in lowlands, you need to take care in advance of its high-quality and timely outflow.
As for lighting, daisies are unpretentious here too. They are ready to grow in an open area with sufficient moisture, and in a little passing shade. Perhaps, the only difference will be in the height of the peduncles; in the first case, they will be shorter, and the leaf rosettes will be denser.
Caring for Daisies
It’s not difficult to grow these flowers, but you won’t be able to forget about them for a long time. The flowerbed must be weeded regularly, watered in a timely manner and fed occasionally. You need to be careful with loosening the soil; shallow roots are easily damaged. For the same reason, you cannot delay watering, otherwise the top layer of soil will dry out and the daisies will suffer. With a lack of water, the inflorescences begin to shrink, and decorative terry varieties lose their doubleness. A layer of mulch will help partially solve this problem; the soil will release less moisture and dry out more slowly in the heat.
Mulching provides another advantage - mulch covers protruding roots, which the crop has a natural tendency to do.
Feeding
Daisies are among the plants for which feeding is the most important care item. With unobtrusive “service” their appearance will differ little from their wild counterparts growing in nature (in Russia - Crimea, Caucasus). If you provide them high level agricultural background, they will be able to fully reveal their decorative potential. In early spring, when planting daisies or on an existing flowerbed, add a balanced mineral composition for flowering open-ground crops. After waiting for the start of budding, you need to re-feed with a composition with a reduced percentage of nitrogen inclusion or with its complete absence.
Removing faded buds can not only prolong flowering, but also cause a second wave. To do this, you can walk through a flower bed with daisies with a lawnmower, cutting off all the flower stalks at the end of flowering. Very soon there will be a new flowering, and it will continue until frost.
Vegetative propagation methods
You can plant daisies not only by the generative method (seeds), but also by cuttings and dividing the bush. This primarily applies to varietal varieties in order to preserve their visual attractiveness.
Cuttings
The best time to cut is the last week August or the first of September (dates may vary depending on the weather). To do this, use a sharp knife or garden pruning shears; you need to cut off the leafy side stems. They are planted immediately on a training bed with a loose nutrient substrate. You can place them in a container with water. After just a couple of weeks, the green cuttings should produce new roots. It is better to plant them in a permanent place immediately after this. Next year they will produce full blooms.
Dividing the bush
It is worth knowing that after dividing the bush, the plant does not look as neat, lush and beautiful as one grown from purchased ones. quality seeds. But you will have to resort to it from time to time for reasons that will be described below. The timing is the same as for cutting cuttings, but spring division is also acceptable. An adult, full-fledged bush is divided into 4-6 parts. First, all flower stalks and leaves without petioles are pinched off. The roots of the dug out bush are shortened to 5-8 cm. This will make rooting easier.
Divisions of adult daisies easily take root even with virtually no roots at all, producing new ones from the base of the petioles, so there is no need to try to preserve their entire root system.
Collecting seeds
Daisy seeds do not give away all at once, but as they ripen during a long flowering period, so if you want to collect all the seed material, you need to do this in stages every 5-7 days. It is necessary to carefully cut off the already wilted but not yet scattered seeds of the inflorescence, shake them out onto paper and lay them out on it to dry. For storage, paper envelopes or bags are also used, which are left in a dry and dark place for the winter.
Before harvesting, do not water the daisies; jets of water can easily wash away the ripe seeds.
Wintering
The plant can overwinter in open ground, but requires shelter due to the shallow location of the horses, especially if the winter is frosty and with little snow. Sawdust, dry leaves, peat, humus or any other warming mulch, sprinkled in a layer of at least 7-9 cm, are suitable for this. In old areas where plant roots protrude outward from the soil, the need for mulching increases in winter, and the thickness of the layer should also increase . In spring, such bushes must be replanted.
Transfer
This point of agricultural technology applies only to perennial varieties. The need for their periodic transplantation is dictated by the tendency of the culture to degenerate. At first, the planting pleases with the beauty of large double flowers, but after a few years in the same place there is no trace of its former decorativeness. As soon as the clump begins to grow, the flowers become smaller and their double quality disappears. And, if other flowering crops require rejuvenating transplantation no earlier than after 5-6 years, then daisies need this much more often. If it is not possible to replant and divide the bush, then you should at least remove the excess bushes. This is quite a troublesome, but necessary care item.