Photographing Daisies
No Comments »26th June, 2006; Category: Daisies
It is so difficult to take photos of plants that are in the mauve / blue / purple colour range. I have tried photography in the shade, at night with a flash, relying on the editing facility with digital photography and still been disappointed with the results.
There are a number of members of the daisy family, in particular Olearia and Brachyscome which have these colours. A mass of mauve Brachyscome multifida will look a dirty white or ‘washed out’ pink. One day I will come across some clues to help with this. Meanwhile when I try to tell anyone about the beautiful colour of the purple form of Olearia floribunda, I feel great frustration that I cannot show them what I mean. Similarly with Olearia ciliata which varies in colour from mauve to purple.
All these have the typical daisy shaped flower which vary in size from 1cm to 5cm across. Some look good as cut flowers in small posies. All look great as potted plants and garden plants.
I enjoy propagating these plants from seed and cuttings. Cuttings strike fairly easily in warmer weather.
Olearia pannosa
1 Comment »25th June, 2006; Category: Daisies
This daisy was the reason I joined the Australian Daisy Study Group. This is one of many study groups set up under the auspices of the Australian Societies for Growing Australian Plants (ASGAP). Most daisies I had seen were relatively insignificant but the large flowers on this plant were stunning. The bush covers itself in 70mm wide white fllowers.
Olearia pannosa
I enjoy and appreciate the information that is available through membership of the study group.
I noticed that the plants are beginning the spurt of growth that comes just before the flower buds form. It flowers at the end of winter.
It is one of those plants that needs to be cut back after flowering. It has the appearance of a shrub but behaves like a perennial plant. New growth appears lower down the stems. I am never sure whether to cut back to the bottom most part of this. Members of the study group have not had a great deal of success when cutting back into older wood on some of these daisies. I have never cut back too severely.
This is one that grows quite well in the highly alkaline soil that is in my garden. Not as vigorous as the plants that grow where the rainfall is a little higher and there is not so much limestone.
Annual Everlastings
These are wonderful flowers which can be naturalised in the garden. That is, have them growing in patches rather than in rows. They flower over a longer period if extra water is available, but still give a marvellous display on diminishing moisture in the soil. You will have seen photos in brochures about Wildflower tours to Western Australia, where it is pink or yellow or white for as far as the eye can see. That is not trick photography!
You can do the same thing on a smaller scale in your own front or back yard. Set aside a patch a few square metres in area, and put in some plants or seeds. Seed of some species is available from supermarket garden centres as well as specialty seed merchants. You can buy seedlings, or more advanced plants in the same way that you buy “potted colour†from nurseries. Instead of buying petunias, look for Rhodanthe (Helipterum) species.
These will drop seed which will probably germinate with the first rains in autumn and continue to appear year after year if you have a sand mulch on the garden bed rather than leaf litter or other organic mulch.
Don’t forget the mass planting in a large tub… be creative about your pots.
These plants need a lot of sunlight to do well, so the location of your few square metres, or your planter is an important issue for these species.
More on everlasting daisies…
The Xerochrysms (Bracteantha, Helichrysm) mentioned before come in a variety of colours. The small hybrids range through shades of pink, yellow, gold, bronze and shades of wine red
One that I have begun to grow I bought in as “Red Hybridâ€, the result of breeding, and the seeds come true to colour. I would say that the seed of the flowering plants in the home garden may produce some surprises which I will know about soon! These daisies do interbreed and throw back to originals, but are fun to sow and grow on because of the diverse colourings.
Fertilisers suitable for Australian native plants promote good growth in these plants. In general, Blood and Bone types, and slow release granules are recommended, but I suspect that any good organic fertiliser would do the job with these too. As with most gardening, taking the time to prepare soil, add fertiliser and make decisions about watering will bring the best results.
The main pests seem to be green caterpillars which you don’t find until great chunks have been eaten out of the leaves. Remove by hand if you can find them, rather than resort to sprays. I have also found at certain times of the year that aphids gather on the growing tips. These will distort the flower buds if you do not do something to control them.
Using Everlasting Daisies
These daisies have papery “petals†and are great in posies and flower arrangements. When used with other long keeping flowers and foliage they will last for many months.Â
The flowers are picked when the bud is full, as the petals continue to open after picking, during the drying period. Alternatively pick in tight bud and the bud will continue to open a little. You need to experiment with timing according to the effect you require. Hang the flowers upside down to keep the stems straight, or use florist wire to wire the flower heads. Cut the flower with a 1-2cm stem, poke the wire into the length of the stem, and place the wire stem into a container while the petals continue to open. I have found that the amount of opening is reduced if the heads are wired. If you prefer to, wrap the wires in green florist tape designed for this purpose.
These plants flower for months. The shrubby varieties are Xerochrysm (formerly Bracteantha), and prior to that they were known as Helichrysm.
The small flowered hybrid forms have lovely colours and a massed planting of one colour, or mixed shades can be very attractive. These small varieties would be wonderful in a cottage garden. They would also look good planted 3 or 4 to a large tub.
The flowers need to be picked regularly, either for use as cut flowers, or removed altogether when fully opened and becoming fluffy on the bush. This promotes new shoots and therefore more flowers.
Â