Oxeye daisy

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial of 30–70 cm with a basal leaf rosette and straight, sparingly branched stems usually carrying a single flower head.

Leaf

Rosette leaves spoon-shaped, long-stalked and scalloped; stem leaves narrow, stalkless and half-clasping, with a toothed edge. Dark green and almost hairless.

Flower

Flower heads of 3–6 cm with a ring of white ray florets around a flat, yellow centre of small disc florets.

Fruit/Seed

Small ribbed achenes without a pappus; they fall close to the plant.

Stem

Straight and ridged, unbranched or slightly branched at the top.

Confusion with

Scentless mayweed has finely divided, thread-like leaves and smaller heads on a much-branched plant. The daisy is far smaller and grows in lawns. The Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum) from gardens has larger flowers and firmer, glossy leaves.

Flowering: May–August · Pruning: July and September

Why grow it?

• A real insect plant: hoverflies, beetles, solitary bees, flies and butterflies easily find nectar and pollen.
• The flat, open flower heads serve as a landing pad and sunbathing spot for insects.
• Quick and easy from seed: often a white sea of flowers by the second year.
• Flowers again if you cut it back or mow it after the first flush.
• A classic for the wildflower meadow, the verge or a sunny, natural border, and a lovely cut flower.

Oxeye daisy: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: hay meadows, road verges, dykes, railway embankments and poor grassland, on sand, loam and clay.
• Full sun; in partial shade it flowers less and flops easily.
• Dry to moist soil that is not too rich. On rich soil it becomes floppy and grass soon crowds it out.
• In the garden: a wildflower meadow, a sunny verge along the drive or a natural border with other wild flowers.

Goes well with

• Common knapweed: Purple flowers in July–August, once the daisies have finished.
• Bird’s-foot trefoil: Yellow pea flowers in the meadow and food plant of the common blue butterfly.
• Yellow rattle: Semi-parasite that holds back the grass, giving the daisies more room.
• Wild carrot: White umbels in July–August, a fine successor on the same verge.

Oxeye daisy: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy seed or plants from a native plant nursery, preferably of local origin. Never dig plants up from the wild.
2. Sow in September–October or March–April on a bare, weed-free spot; mix the fine seed with a little sand to spread it more evenly.
3. Press or roll the seed in and cover it with at most a very thin layer: the fine seed germinates best at the surface.
4. Plant pot-grown plants in spring or autumn 25–30 cm apart, in groups of five or more.
5. Keep the soil moist until the seedlings are growing well; after that, watering is no longer needed.
6. In an existing lawn: first clear small patches of bare soil and sow or plant into them, otherwise the grass wins.

Care

Water

Only during germination and just after planting. After that it copes even in dry summers.

Feeding

Do not: on poor soil it stays sturdy and flowers more freely.

Mowing

In a wildflower meadow, mow twice a year, late June–July after flowering and in September, and remove the cuttings.

Cutting back

In the border, cut the faded stems short in July; a second, smaller flush often follows.

Rejuvenating

After three or four years old clumps sometimes flower less; divide them or let new seedlings take their place.

Tip: Sow oxeye daisies together with yellow rattle: this semi-parasite holds back the grass, so after a few years the daisies and other wild flowers come through much better.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: July and September.

When: Cut back or mow after the first flush, in July; in a wildflower meadow, mow again in September.

How:

• In the border, cut the faded stems back to just above the leaf rosette.
• Let some flower heads go to seed if you want it to self-seed.
• Mow a wildflower meadow at 8–10 cm and leave the cuttings for a few days so the seeds drop out; then remove them.
• In the border, leave the last stems standing in autumn as shelter for insects.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Sow in September–October or March–April on the surface of bare soil. It germinates within a few weeks; flowering often follows in the second year.

Division

In March or September, lift an older clump and split it into pieces, each with a rosette and roots.

Self-seeding

Let seed ripen on the plant: in an open verge or border new rosettes appear by themselves.

Oxeye daisy: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• The leaf rosette usually stays green in winter.
• Fully hardy.
• Dry stems and the green rosettes give shelter to small insects and spiders.
• Autumn seedlings overwinter as small rosettes.

Diseases and pests

• Flopping: On soil that is too rich or in shade the stems fall over. Do not feed it and choose a sunny spot.
• Disappearing: In dense, rich grassland it disappears after a few years. Mow twice a year, remove the cuttings and now and then clear bare patches.
• Aphids: Black aphids on the stems in June. Ladybirds usually do the job; otherwise hose them off with water.
• Slugs: Young seedlings and rosettes are popular. Sow generously and protect the youngest plants.

Through the year

• March: Sow or plant. The rosettes grow.
• April: Sow or divide. The stems shoot up.
• May: First flowers.
• June: Full flower. Visits from hoverflies, beetles and bees.
• July: After flowering, cut back or mow.
• August: Second, smaller flush of flowers.
• September: Mow the wildflower meadow again. Sow or divide.
• October: Sow. Green rosettes.
• December: Rest. The rosettes stay green.

Did you know?

• Leucanthemum comes from the Greek leukos, ‘white’, and anthemon, ‘flower’.
• The well-known game ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ is played by pulling off the white ray florets of a daisy one by one.
• A daisy is not a single flower but a head of many tiny flowers: white ray florets around the edge and yellow disc florets in the centre.