Pronounciation: Cra-SAN-the-mum su-PER-bum
Hardiness zones
Sunset All
USDA All
Landscape Use: Flowering accent plant for mesic gardens.
Form & Character: Herbaceous perennial, formal, sometimes a bit stiff, nostalgic, festive, pure, bright and cheery.
Growth Habit: Vegetative habit is clumping and matting to 2 feet high with equal spread except when stems bolt to 4 feet to produce flowers.
Foliage/Texture: Medium dark green leathery spatulate foliage with light serration; medium texture.
Flowers & Fruits: Perfect white rays flowers to 3 inches across with yellow centers, fruit inconspicuous.
Seasonal Color: White flowers in spring in lower deserts of Arizona and southeast California, elsewhere flowering occurs during summer.
Temperature: Shasta daisy grows best when temperatures range between 40o and 90oF.
Light: Partial sun best in Phoenix. In the desert, absolutely avoid placement of Shasta daisy plants in blazing western exposures. Sites with eastern exposures and morning sun are best.
Soil: Shasta daisy are tolerant of all soils but those that are highly alkaline. It does best in soils that are well drained and have a slight organic content.
Watering: Shasta daisy grows well in evenly moist soils. In the desert Southwest, this means that regular and frequent irrigations are a necessity for survival especially during hot summer months. Less water is needed in higher elevations of the southwest and will depend on frequency of summer monsoon rains.
Pruning: Remove spent flower stalks during fall and early winter.
Propagation: Seed, or division in fall to early spring.
Disease and pests: Slugs
Additional comments: There are many named cultivars. Shasta daisy is an old fashioned garden cut flower plant that is a wonderful border perennial for any mesic garden. Shasta daisy performs well in Flagstaff, Prescott, and Payson gardens during summer months (actually better than Phoenix. Flowers sometimes attract bees.
