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The Michaelmas daisy is just one of the much-loved clan’s 20,000 varieties – and it’s the perfect choice for adding a blast of colour to pep up fading beds

Martyn Cox

MENTION daisies and most people will think of Bellis perennis, or common daisy, our native wildflower with its small, white and yellow blooms. Yet this ubiquitous species common to lawns, fields and meadows is not alone – there’s a large group of perennial daisies that are guaranteed to pep up gardens in late summer and autumn.

The likes of coreopsis, dahlia, echinacea, helenium, rudbeckia and Michaelmas daisies (aster, eurybia and symphyotrichum) are ideal for adding colour, structure and movement to beds and borders. Some varieties flower

They’ll turn your garden into a wildlife haven

constantly from June until October, while others come to life at the tail end of the season.

Apart from their ornamental qualities, many of these late-flowering daisies will help to turn your garden into a wildlife haven. Their flowers are an important source of nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators, while the seed heads that follow are often longlasting, supplying food to hungry birds and other creatures.

The daisy clan (known to botanists as the asteraceae family) is one of the largest plant groups with more than 20,000 members. Apart from many well-known shrubs, perennials, biennials and annuals, it includes vegetables, such as lettuce and Jerusalem artichoke, and even weeds, like dandelion and groundsel.

Plants in the daisy family have distinctive flower heads. At first glance they might look like individual blooms but they are actually made of many tiny individual flowers. Their ‘petals’ are technically sterile ray flowers that are colourful to attract pollinators and surround a central cluster of fertile, mini disc flowers.

This unique flowerhead structure is clear to see with rudbeckias, one of my favourite late-flowering daisies. Originating from the prairies of North America, plant breeding of wild species has led to varieties with yellow, orange or red ‘petals’ arranged around a raised central ‘eye’ that’s black, brown or green in colour.

Commonly known as coneflowers, and in the case of the dark-eyed types, black-eyed Susans, these plants vary in height from knee-high forms to 8ft-tall whoppers.

Over time, they will form sizeable clumps that are capable of delivering hundreds of flowers, from early summer until the first frosts of autumn.

Heleniums are another cracking band of perennial daisies that come from across the pond. They boast flowerheads with a distinctive, raised centre and ‘petals’ in shades of yellow, bronze, orange and red.

Some varieties are speckled, streaked or banded with contrasting shades, giving a two-tone effect. Ranging in height from 15in to about 8ft, heleniums have a long flowering period. Some start in early or mid-summer and will still be turning heads in November. Others will light up the garden for several weeks in late summer or early autumn as they deliver a single but magnificent flush of flowers.

Non-gardeners will know echinacea as a herbal remedy to fight

colds, but this supplement actually comes from the roots of one of the most striking of all daisies.

Admired for their architectural form, echinacea plants produce masses of large flowers between June and October, usually hitting their peak in late summer.

Like rudbeckias, echinaceas have the common name of coneflower – this refers to the protruding, coneshaped or rounded boss that sits at the heart of each bloom.

The spiky-looking thing is also behind the plant’s botanical name, which derives from the Greek word ekhinos, meaning hedgehog.

All of the perennial daisies mentioned above, along with many others, like a sunny spot.

The only ones to buck the trend are Michaelmas daisies, which prefer dappled shade. They’ll thrive in moist but well-drained soil, and are likely to rot if they are set in ground that becomes waterlogged over winter.

Most late-flowering daisies are best in the front or middle of beds and borders, depending on their height, although anything over 5ft really needs to be placed at the back of displays. They make perfect partners for ornamental grasses and other late-flowering perennials, such as herbaceous sedum, thalictrum and salvia.

A little bit of attention will ensure these daisies put in a lengthy shift. Shore up plants that grow to 3ft or more, preventing them flopping during a downpour or under the weight of their own flowers, and dead-head fading blooms, only stopping towards the end of the season to allow seed heads to develop.

Gardens

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2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

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