Luminous, stark golden-yellow daisies cover this Mexican perennial in abundance, month after month. Bidens wants a sun-bathed spot sheltered from wind, since moving air cools the plant down; meet that one condition and its unusually long blooming season also makes it an excellent pot plant to bring indoors as a guest.
| Name | Bidens |
|---|---|
| Family | Asteraceae |
| Type | perennial |
| Height | 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | drained, lots of humus |
| Foliage | evergreen |
| Flowering | spring to autumn |
Advice on planting bidens
This is preferably done in spring. You may also plant in fall if winters in your region are reliably mild.
Take note that the plant is frost-vulnerable though, it dies under 40°F (5°C). It cannot survive temperatures that are lower than that.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be grown; it just means you’ll have to grow them like annuals, sowing new ones every year in spring.
Propagating your bidens
Propagation is easy through cuttings and sowing.
Bidens is generous with itself: seed, cuttings and division all work. The method you pick mostly depends on the season you are standing in and how many plants you want.
| Method | When | What it needs | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing | late winter to early spring | a sheltered place at about 66°F (19°C) | sprouting in 10 to 20 days; the usual route when growing bidens as an annual |
| Cuttings | summer | healthy shoots taken from a growing plant | an easy way to copy a plant you already like |
| Division | when the clump is well grown | an established clump to split | highly effective, and instantly gives full-sized plants |
Whichever route you take, space the young plants 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) apart in a sunny, sheltered spot.
Care is easy and you’ll only have to water in summer whenever dry spells and high temperatures extend for a lengthy amount of time.
Remove wilted flowers regularly often, this is called deadheading. This step helps stimulate the plant to produce new flowers.
Water only during days of high temperatures, and then again only if you notice the plant suffering due to lack of water.
To increase the blooming, add granulated organic flower plant fertilizer in spring.
Bidens is a very interesting plant because its foliage is evergreen and it stays magnificent in winter, as long as it is being grown in a pot.
When grown in the ground, your Bidens won’t survive the winter under our latitudes.
Native to Mexico, this very cute short-lived perennial bears abundant flowers that are a luminous stark golden yellow color.
White-colored bidens also exist and they’re extremely ornamental, too. Grow them in exactly the same manner as you would yellow ones.
In its native environment, this plant can bloom from from fall to winter but you’ll have to wait for spring to see it bloom in our temperate climates.
Aside from that, the blooming period is very long since it starts in April and ends in October.
Vulnerable to freezing, it is often grown as an annual in colder regions.
Since it isn’t a plant that is vulnerable to diseases and parasites, Bidens is a very resistant plant.
It does happen, however, that some specimens are sensitive to downy mildew.
Grow it in pots, too: its extended blooming period makes it a great indoor guest!
