By Jean Thomas
I know the oxeye daisies are about finished and the queen anne’s lace and chicory are taking their turn in the spotlight, but there are still lots of white daisy-type flowers around, like Shasta Daisies and Montauk Daisies. The reason I have been thinking about Oxeye Daisies in particular is historical. The Oxeye Daisy is a native to North America and was a particular favorite of John Bartram. This is where the history comes in. John Bartram is famous among botanists because he was among the pioneers in binomial nomenclature, the main system nowadays to categorize all plants. He and Benjamin Franklin were great friends, and he was a noted “plant hunter” who started much of the plant industry as we know it. He shipped to Europe and Great Britain plants and seeds that had never been seen there. He traveled most of the east coast searching for new plants. This included our own Catskills area, in fact spending quality time among the native Americans.
I’ve been listening to the “Nature Calls, Conversations from the Hudson Valley” episode containing a “reenactment” of an interview with Mr. Bartram himself. The link is: https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/gardening/nature-calls-conversations-from-the-hudson-valley/episode-115-john-bartram
At one point, Mr. Bartram (portrayed by Kirk Brown) talks about his fondness for the oxeye daisy in great detail. And I am in full agreement about the charm of a field full of wild daisies. They are a great pollinator plant and can grow pretty near anywhere. They are a perfect meadow plant. Just be wary of planting them in a bed and expecting them to remain tidy. And they reseed madly… you’ll be removing baby plants forever. Their hybridized cousins are much better choices. While they tend to spread and sprawl a bit, they are much better mannered. The two best classic white daisy type perennials are the Shasta and the Montauk daisies. Each has a history of its own and neither was available in Bartram’s time.
The Montauk daisy is also called Nippon daisy or Japanese daisy because it is a native of Japan. It “went native” when it arrived in the Montauk area and some think they’re native, they’re so happy there. T he big white daisies bloom much later in the year than the Oxeye and last longer. Their zone keeps expanding with global warming, but they can still be killed by an early frost. Even though they’re considered hardy to zone 5, I’d still keep an eye out for frost warnings.
The Shasta daisy is an American creation by the great botanist Luther Burbank. He was a pioneer in botany and horticulture and developed over 800 various hybrids to become acclaimed as an agricultural inventor.Iit was he who hybridized several native daisies with a Japanese daisy and made this wonderful vivid white, long flowering classic daisy and named it after Mt. Shasta in California. Bartram would have definitely approved. Unfortunately, Burbank created the Shasta daisy in 1890, about a century after Bartram died in 1777. I can only imagine what a conversation those two pioneers might have had! Whichever your preference, any one of the daisies will work when you want to know if “He loves me” or “he loves me not.”
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