Daisies

The daisy plant (Bellis) is a perennial representative of the Astrov family. In nature, a charming flower can be found in the Mediterranean countries. The genus includes about 14 different species.

The name of the plant comes from the word "pearl". It is associated with the miniature white flowers of wild daisies. The Latin designation for such plants - Bellis - was invented by Pliny and means "beautiful". The daisy has many different names. Among them is the English "daisy" (an affectionate abbreviation for "day's eye" - "day eye", which characterizes the early opening time of flowers), which eventually became a woman's name.

In medieval Germany, there was such a tradition: meeting spring, residents raised cups and praised her goddess. The festive cups were decorated with daisy flowers. The knights of the Middle Ages proudly depicted daisies on their shield, because this meant that their chosen one said "Yes".

On holidays, daisies were put on the table, they cleaned the home. Girls and women used them to decorate their outfits. Daisies are sung in poetry and songs, they are surrounded by an aura of legends, fairy tales and traditions. Centuries have passed, but their glory has not faded. They still adorn flower gardens and are prized for their charm and elegance.

Due to the similarity of inflorescences, in many countries, daisies often served as a substitute for daisies, the favorite plants for divination by petals, and also became the basis for all sorts of legends and tales. Thanks to popular love and high decorativeness, daisies have been popular in gardening for several centuries.

Description of the daisy

The daisy is a short herbaceous bush. Its foliage is located near a short root and has a spatulate shape with a blunt apex and a crenate edge. A single inflorescence-head is formed on the leafless peduncle. The ligulate flowers are usually white or pink in color. In the middle of the inflorescence there are tubular yellow flowers. After flowering, a fruit is formed - a flattened achene.

The beginning of flowering of daisies in the middle lane falls at the very end of spring or early summer. It can continue until late autumn, but the peak of flowering usually falls in the first half of summer. After the onset of hot weather, the plantings lose some in decorativeness, and the flowering becomes less lush.

Garden forms of the daisy include plants with a variety of colors, sizes, and flower patterns. They can be simple or have varying degrees of terry. Most often in gardens, you can find a perennial daisy grown as a biennial.This is due to the fact that as the bushes develop, they begin to lose their former attractiveness and need rejuvenation or renewal.

Brief rules for growing daisies

The table shows brief rules for growing daisies in the open field.

Growing daisies from seeds

Sowing seeds

Species daisies can be easily grown using seeds that have good germination. They can be sown directly into open ground. This is usually done in June, after the warm weather has finally settled. Sowing is carried out in moist soil, while the seeds are not buried, but only slightly covered with sifted sand or humus. For germination, seeds will need warmth and light, as well as constant soil moisture. To speed up the process, you can additionally cover the bed with a film, although without it the seedlings should appear within a week. A couple of days after the seeds germinate, the film should be removed, and the sprouts should be lightly sprinkled with soil to prevent exposing the roots.

Seedlings of daisies do not immediately gain rapid growth rates, growing only as they develop. After the foliage of the bushes touches them, they dive, maintaining a distance of up to 20 cm. Usually this procedure occurs in August. The entire first year of life, the daisy develops foliage, so the flowering of plantings can be admired only in the next season.

Adult daisies are capable of self-seeding, so in the spring the emerging seedlings should be thinned out. Together with this, old weakened or sick specimens are also removed. But preserving the decorativeness of the daisy flower bed in such a simple way will not work. Varietal plants during seed propagation begin to degenerate: their flowers become smaller, and varietal characteristics are lost.

Daisy seedlings

In most cases, the seedling method is used to grow daisies. Sowing early, this allows you to get flowering plants this season. For germination, use a common container or separate containers at once - this allows less injury to seedlings when diving. Any well-drained and nutritious soil will work for daisies. Sowing is carried out according to the same rules as for open ground. For germination, the seeds will need warmth and light, but after the sprouts appear, it is recommended to transfer the seedlings to a cooler corner, where they keep no more than 15 degrees. The ideal daylight hours for sprouts are at least 12 hours, so it is advisable to use backlighting.

If the seedlings grow in a common container, the pick is carried out after full leaves appear on the plants. Seedlings must be hardened before moving to the garden.

Planting daisies outdoors

The best time to plant

The seedlings are transferred to the ground after the heat is established on the street: in late spring or at the very beginning of summer.

Daisies prefer sunny locations, so they should be placed in open beds. The ideal corner for them would be a flower bed, lit until lunchtime.In hot places, where the sun is even during the day, flowers will need more frequent watering. Otherwise, the foliage of the daisies will wither and the flowers will wilt.

These flowers are undemanding to the soil, but they can best grow on light and loose loamy soil. Planting in lowlands should be avoided - the bushes will react negatively to frequent stagnation of water. Due to the small size of the aboveground part, daisies are often used as curbs or fill the first tier of mixborders with them. In addition to soil, you can also grow daisies in containers or flowerpots.

In natural conditions, daisies often grow on lawns among ordinary grass. When mowing, the mower does not touch the foliage of the plants, which turns them into a lawn weed. This allows the daisies to be used in mixtures for low-maintenance Moorish, floral lawns. Cutting from time to time will help your daisies grow so the grass won't drown them out. But for such a cultivation, only discreet varieties with simple flowers are suitable.

Landing rules

The seedlings are transferred to the chosen place along with the soil clod. To do this, you must first prepare medium-sized holes, maintaining a distance of up to 20 cm between them. The bushes are moved, carefully transferring them from the old container. They try not to touch the roots. After compaction of the soil around the seedlings, they are well watered.

Caring for daisies in the garden

Caring for daisies is considered uncomplicated. It consists in the systematic carrying out of the basic procedures: watering, feeding and loosening. The roots of daisies are small, so the bushes will need to be hydrated quite often, especially on windy or sultry days. If the plantings lack moisture, their inflorescences will begin to shrink, and the double flowers can turn into simple ones. After watering, the ground around the bushes is slightly loosened, improving the flow of air to the roots of the plants. At the same time, it is not recommended to overmoisten the soil, the top layer of the soil should have time to dry out.

For ease of maintenance, you can additionally mulch the area next to the bushes. This procedure allows not only to reduce the number of waterings, but also to protect the plant roots from gradual exposure. It is necessary to clear the beds from weeds only in the first year of cultivation. Then the growing bushes will drown them out themselves.

Top dressing

For feeding daisies, complex formulations for flowering species are used. They are applied at least twice a season (up to 30 g per 1 sq. M). You can periodically feed the bushes and organic matter, but you should not overdo it. An excess of nutrients leads to overgrowth of foliage and a decrease in the number of flowers. To prolong flowering, it is recommended to remove the inflorescences immediately after their wilting.

Bloom

Daisies bloom in early May and ends in late July. In the southern regions, the flowering period is longer. Daisy flowers can be seen there even in autumn. The early flowering is explained by the fact that the plant tolerates wintering well, perfectly preserved under the snow, and quickly grows in spring.

Daisies after flowering

Seed collection

Daisy seeds can ripen at different times, so they are harvested in stages. Usually, the collection is carried out a couple of times a week. The stuck inflorescences with seeds should be cut off, choosing the moment, until the seeds fell from the flower due to rain or watering. The extracted seed is dried on a sheet of paper in a ventilated place. The finished seeds are poured into paper bags and stored in a dark, dry corner until sowing.

Timely collection or removal of faded inflorescences will prevent unwanted self-seeding.

Wintering period

The compact root system makes daisies vulnerable to severe frost. Most often, individual terry plant varieties are susceptible to freezing. You should be especially careful if winter is expected with little snow.The planting bed is covered with a layer of mulch at least 8 cm thick. To do this, you can use sawdust, peat, humus, fallen leaves, etc. A shelter made of spruce branches or special material is also suitable.

Most of all, bushes growing on hills need shelter. Attention should be paid to specimens with bare roots - they are piled up. In the spring, such plants should be transplanted with a slightly deeper depth.

In winter, daisy bushes can be used for forcing. In late autumn, the required number of bushes is dug out of the ground along with an earthen lump, transplanted into pots or containers and placed in a cool (about 0 degrees) place. Watering such plants should only be lightly so that the clod of earth cannot dry out. 1.5 months before the desired flowering, the container is transferred to a warm and bright place and the bushes begin to water more often.

Breeding methods for daisies

Besides growing daisies from seeds, they can also be propagated vegetatively. To do this, use cuttings of adult overwintered plants or dividing their bushes. These methods allow you to preserve varietal specimens without losing the size or number of their flowers. Without timely rejuvenation, daisies become more chamomile-like and shrink. In addition, division makes it possible to thin out significantly growing clumps of daisies. The separated bushes can be moved to another location. The roots of healthy specimens allow them to safely tolerate transplants even during the flowering period.

The division of plantings is carried out every year or at least every other year. Most often this is done at the very end of summer or early autumn - after flowering, although sometimes the division is carried out in the spring. In the spring, the bushes are pulled out of the ground, and then divided into parts. Flowers and buds are pinched off the dealers - they will take away the forces from the plants, which they must direct to rooting. All foliage is also subject to removal, but the stalks do not touch it. The roots of the delenok are shortened to a length of about 5-8 cm. All these procedures will simplify the process of plant adaptation in a new place. After transplanting, parts of the bush will be able to continue growing again. In a couple of months, these bushes will be able to bloom. Even the cuttings devoid of roots are able to take root - they will begin to grow from the base of the leaves.

For autumn division, after the first wave of flowering, the bushes should be spud so that the soil is even between the foliage in the outlet. Towards the end of summer, such plants form small rosettes with their own roots. It is they who are subject to separation. Despite the small size of such divisions, they bloom earlier than seed specimens.

Cutting is carried out in the same time periods as division. Most often it is held at the beginning of summer. Cutting the cuttings will require a sharp and clean tool. Lateral shoots with their own foliage are separated from the adult bush. They are planted in prepared moist and loose soil. Best of all, the plantings will take root in partial shade under a cover made of non-woven material. It takes about 2 weeks to root the cuttings; in August, the established plants are moved to a permanent growing place. Such daisies will be able to bloom only next year.

Pests and diseases

The miniature daisy is considered quite resistant to disease and pest attacks. If you follow all the rules for caring, you can practically not worry about these flowers.

The main danger for planting is viral diseases. Affected plants can be distinguished by elongated pedicels, small flowers and shrinking leaf blades. At the same time, their color becomes paler. The affected specimens will have to be removed, and the wells in which they grew should be disinfected with a dark solution of potassium permanganate.

Powdery mildew can sometimes appear on daisies. It can be recognized by a light, loose bloom on the aerial part of the plant.It will not be possible to cure this disease, so the bushes (or at least their affected parts) will have to be destroyed. The rest of the plantings and healthy parts of the bush are then treated with Bordeaux liquid, colloidal sulfur or another antifungal drug.

Among the pests on plantings, ticks, beetles or slugs may appear, eating the foliage of daisies. Such pests should be controlled with appropriate insecticides. Sometimes the roots of the plant are affected by rodents. In this case, poisons are used.

Types and varieties of daisies with photos and names

Of all the types of daisies in gardening, only two are usually grown: perennial and annual. Caring for them has several minor differences.

Annual daisy (Bellis annua)

This type of daisy is usually grown as a balcony or houseplant. In the garden, Bellis annua is most often found in rockeries. This species is not as common as perennials, so there are not many ornamental varieties in annual plants. The flowers have a simple structure, small size and light (usually white) color with a yellow eye. They appear towards the end of summer. The breeding method is seeds.

Perennial daisy (Bellis perennis)

Forms bushes up to 30 cm high. The Bellis perennis rosette is formed by oblong or spatulate leaves. From the second year of development, the bushes form many slightly pubescent peduncle stems. Inflorescences in the form of baskets open on them. Their maximum diameter reaches 8 cm, and the color includes shades of red, pink and white. Long ligulate (or tubular) flowers are located along the edge of the inflorescences, and small yellow tubular flowers are collected in the middle. After flowering, small flat seeds are formed on the bushes. Such plants can self-seed. In spring, their young shoots can be used as seedlings.

All varieties of such daisies are classified according to the structure of their inflorescences. The first group (ligulosa) is made up of plants, the flower head of which consists only of reed flowers. The second group (fistulosa) includes daisies with fully tubular flowers. Regardless of belonging to one of these groups, varieties can have a different degree of doubleness of flowers:

• Simple inflorescences. Baskets include up to 3 rows of colored tubular or ligulate flowers. In the center there are yellow median flowers.
• Semi-double inflorescences. Reed flowers in such baskets are arranged in 4 rows. The middle is made up of small tubular yellow flowers.
• Terry inflorescences. Many rows of reed flowers form a ball, hiding the yellow center from view.

In addition, the inflorescences of varietal daisies can be of different sizes. Plants with heads of no more than 4 cm are considered small-flowered, sizes from 4 to 6 cm are referred to as medium, and from 6 cm or more to large ones.

Among the most famous varieties of daisies:

• Bella Daisy Is an award-winning variety with early flowering times. Forms terry baskets of small size and bright pink color.
• Pomponette - forms small inflorescences in the form of pompons.
• Robella - a terry variety with medium (up to 5 cm) inflorescence sizes. Forms dense baskets with numerous tubular flowers of a pale salmon color. The variety has received a prestigious award.
• Rob Roy - forms compact bushes with small red flowers about 1-2 cm in diameter.

There are a number of well-known variety series that combine varieties with similar external characteristics. Plants in such series usually have different colors. Among the most popular episodes:

• Rominette - forms bushes up to 15 cm tall. Dense double baskets up to 2 cm in diameter bloom on them. Their color includes shades of red, carmine, as well as light pink and white.
• Speedstar - plants are able to bloom already in the first year of life. They form semi-double baskets of white or carmine color with a prominent yellow center.Pink-flowered specimens have a white border around a golden heart.
• Tasso - Forms short stems with numerous tubular flowers, forming a dense pompom. Its sizes reach 4 cm, and the color includes pink, salmon, white and red. Among all the colors of the variety group, light pink with a darker middle stands out.

Daisy properties and uses

The leaves and stems of daisies contain substances that contribute to the normalization of metabolic processes in the human body, therefore nutritionists strongly recommend adding them to ready-made main dishes, to side dishes and salads, combining with other herbs or using as a decoration for a dish.

Daisies have medicinal properties and are widely used in medicine. On the basis of the plant, preparations are prepared for the treatment of laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis and bronchial asthma. They help to overcome rheumatism, get rid of kidney disease. Extracts from daisy leaves are part of ointments that promote wound healing and quick recovery from injuries.