Daisy flowers in white, pink, blue and violet open above evergreen leaves from late spring right through to mid-autumn: osteospermum, the African or Cape daisy from South Africa, earns its place along edges and borders. Give it full sun and free-draining soil, and shelter from frost below 23°F (-5°C), and the display barely stops.
| Name | Osteospermum |
|---|---|
| Family | Asteraceae |
| Type | flower, perennial |
| Height | 8 to 24 inches (20 to 60 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | well-drained, loaded with humus |
| Foliage | evergreen |
| Flowering | end spring → mid-fall |
Care from planting and pruning and from spring to fall will significantly increase the blooming.
Osteospermum is a perennial flower that can survive winter in regions with mild climates. The more sun, and the better it’s protected from cold, the higher the chance of keeping them year after year.
This is preferably done in spring. You may also plant in fall if winters in your region are reliably mild.
Be careful because the plant is vulnerable to freezing below 23°F (-5°C) and 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 it like annuals, sowing new ones every year in spring.
For growing in containers, it’s better to give it a slightly larger pot than is usual for this size of plant.
When repotting your osteospermum, break the root ball up a bit. This helps aerate the soil, helps you check the plant isn’t root-bound, and new soil meshes better with the old one.
Sowing from seeds is the simplest and fasted method to propagate your osteospermum.
Osteospermum can be multiplied in several ways, and the one you pick mostly depends on the time of year. Here is how the four methods described above compare.
| Method | Timing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing under cover | early spring or mid-spring | Simplest and fastest way to get new plants |
| Direct sowing in the ground | From late spring onwards | No shelter needed once the season has warmed |
| Cuttings | Early summer | Useful for copying a plant you already have |
| Dividing the clump | On an established plant | Highly effective and very easy |
Sowing fresh plants each spring is also the answer in regions where winter is too cold for the plant to survive outdoors.
Care is simple and you’ll only have to water in summer whenever dry spells and high temperatures last for more than a few days.
Remove wilted flowers regularly, this is called deadheading. This step helps stimulate the plant to produce new flowers.
If your Osteospermum has grown too tall and leggy, with just a few steps you can cut it back.
This will result in an incredibly rich growth and many blooms!
Water only during days of high temperatures, and then again only if you notice the plant suffering due to lack of water.
Osteospermum is a very interesting plant because its foliage is evergreen. It stays magnificent in winter.
But this plant has a hard time coping with frost spells colder than 23°F (-5°C), especially if if they last more than a couple days.
Osteospermum resists insects, parasites and diseases particularly well.
If you observe spots on its leaves, you’re certainly dealing with downy mildew.
Though quite rare, osteospermum may be overrun by aphids.
Garden centres and seed catalogues offer a wide choice of Cape daisies, from low ground-hugging mats to taller border plants with curiously spooned petals. The selection below covers the varieties most often found on the shelves.
| Variety | Flower colour | Notable feature | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ | Yellow with blue-black eye | Compact, bicoloured | Pots, window boxes |
| ‘Pink Whirls’ | Soft pink, blue eye | Pinched, spooned petals | Borders, large pots |
| ‘Tresco Purple’ | Magenta-purple, dark eye | Toughest of the group | Edging, gravel, wall tops |
| ‘Whirligig’ | White with slate-blue eye | Spoon-shaped petals | Mid-border, cutting |
| ‘Buttermilk’ | Pale yellow to cream | Unusual soft yellow tone | Sunny border, patio pots |
A very beautiful perennial with an abundant blooming for the most part of the year, osteospermum is also a very easy plant to grow and it resists most diseases very well.
The range of colors it offers goes from white to pink, passing through blue and violet. It does well along edges and borders thanks to its bushy, dense blooming.
Although it is vulnerable to freezing, it is great for sowing as an annual in colder regions.
Native to South Africa, it is sometimes goes by the name African daisy (or Cape daisy).
Grow it in pots, too: its extended blooming period is a very gratifying sight!
