Top Daisy Performers
By Nancy Garrison, Horticulture Advisor
From Daisy Project - summer of 1992
U.C. Bay Area Research and Extension Center
Revised 12/14/92
Master Gardener volunteers from Santa Clara County planted and grew 36 different varieties of daisy-type flowers to provide a demonstration of the range of plant material available for use in the landscape. The top choices compiled from our field screening were based on insect and disease resistance, low maintenance in regards to deadheading, overall attractiveness and long bloom season. We had a serious problem in the field with Sclerotinia, which is a soil-borne fungi. It killed or severely affected many of our varieties. The top performers included the following:
Cladanthus arabicus (Palm Springs Daisy) -- Attractive, compact, but airy looking mounding plant with gray-green feathery foliage, 18" tall by 2' wide. Looks a bit like chamomile. Flowers are golden yellow about 1" across, sparsely covering foliage. Died out early in the summer.
Dahlberg Daisy (Yellow) Thymophylla tenuiloba -- Long blooming summer annual ground cover with bright yellow flowers 1' across completely covering ferny foliage. Plants form very neat uniform mounds 10-12" tall and 2' across. Minimum incidence of disease. Little water stress after 3 weeks of no irrigation. The purple variety died early in the season. May have been due to Sclerotinia.
Echinacea purpurea 'Bravado' -- Spectacular, late summer blooming cone flowers on long stiff erect stems--great for cutting. The 3-1/2" to 4" wide lavender-pink blooms, with beautiful, burnt orange discs, have petals that are more horizontal than drooping in habit. No evidence of insect or disease problems. Great bee and beneficial insect attractant!
Echinacea 'White Swan' -- Same plant growth habit as one above, with same blue-green neat foliage, but greenish-white petals have a more drooping habit typical of Echinacea.
Erigeron (Fleabane) 'Blue Beauty' -- Purple flowers on 2-1/2' tall stems, which stand tall above neat compact rosettes of sword-like leaves. Flowers are 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" wide with thread-like rays surrounding a goldenrod yellow center. Requires little deadheading; that which you do have to do is easy because whole clumps of flowers grow on one stem. Appears to be resistant to Sclerotinia (soil fungus) and showed no insect damage. Similar to Michaelmas daisy (aster).
Feverfew (single type) -- Many sources for these charming old-fashioned daisies. This very long blooming, drought tolerant plant was attractive well into October in our trial and typically goes until a hard frost. Easy to deadhead because many blooms are borne on each tall erect stem which grows tall above previous flush of flowers. Not one plant in the field appeared to be affected by any insect or diseases. The only possible drawback is that it self sows prolifically and can become a "weed" problem. But what an attractive weed!
Helianthus (P) -- Many good varieties of smaller flowered types. 'Italian White' variety reached 4 1/2' to 5' tall. The beautiful pale creamy yellow flowers with rich yellow closer to the dark disc, are borne individually on long stems off of a thick trunk making it suitable for cutting. Of the 3 varieties planted, this one had the smoothest, greenest, most attractive foliage overall. Appears to be the only variety not affected by Sclerotinia. Plant contracted powdery mildew late in the season, but still attractive with many blooms even into October. 'Autumn Giant' variety was in the same height range, with cream to light bronze flower color. Flowers borne on short stems. Lower branches break off easily which contributed to less than a great rating. There was moderate loss to Sclerotinia. 'Musicbox' variety died very prematurely from Sclerotinia. Before it died it was a very attractive early bloomer of 4" yellow, bronze and cream colored blossoms. Plants were flowering at 1-1/2' tall - very dwarf.
Rudbeckia hinta tetra 'Green Eyes' -- Very attractive plant with upright growing stems. Similar to Gloriosa Daisy but green eyes instead of golden black. Seemed to hold up better than the black-eyed variety late in the season.
Rudbeckia 'Gloriosa Daisy' (Black-eyed Susan) -- Lovely perennial, long blooming showing some amount of Sclerotinia.
Sanvatalia 'Mandarin Orange' -- Excellent orange ground cover, spreading 2-1/2 ' across by only 6"- 8" tall, completely covering the ground. Uniform, compact, neat growth habit with orange-yellow petals and rich brown centers. Flowers look like miniature Black-eyed Susans. No need for deadheading because continuous proliferation of new blooms grow slightly above previous blooms so spent blossoms are almost completely hidden. Individual flowers last for weeks, providing for uninterrupted bloom throughout the summer. Plant produces a nice balance of bloom to foliage, so both qualities contribute to the overall pleasing effect.
Shasta Daisy 'Snow Lady' -- Very compact, plants only grew 6" in height in our planting. Because there isn't a staggered bloom, all blooms fade at the same time, needing deadheading at the same time and then the plant is completely bare for 3 or so weeks. Considerable amount of death attributed to Sclerotinia.
Tithonia rotundifolia 'Goldfinger' (Mexican Sunflower) -- This is a shorter variety than normal, growing to about 3-4 feet, compared to 4-5 feet. Beautiful red-orange flowers 2" to 2-1/2" in diameter held up above the soft, velvety blue-green foliage. It did look ratty at the end of the summer