Leucanthemum vulgare Seeds | Ox-eye Daisy Chrysanthemum
LATIN NAME: Leucanthemum vulgare
COMMON NAME: Ox-Eye Daisy
Plant Profile
Leucanthemum vulgare, commonly known as Ox-Eye Daisy, is an upright, clump-forming perennial in the daisy family (Asteraceae). If you have ever walked a country lane in early summer and seen white-and-gold of ox-eye daisies spilling down verges, you know the plant. Ox-eye daisy grows as an upright, clump-forming perennial herb, reaching up to a metre or so, with narrow, toothed, dark-green leaves and, through early summer, solitary white flower heads with many narrow white petals around dense golden centres. It spreads freely by underground runners and fine seeds, and a single plant will soon make a broad, bright colony of white-and-gold heads that sway in summer wind. These traits together are what have kept the plant in gardens for so long.
Science & Biotechnology
As part of the daisy family, Leucanthemum vulgare contributes to research on plant classification and adaptation, while nurseries and gardeners continue to trial it for cultivation. Ox-eye daisy has been studied in botany for its place in meadows and its free-seeding, spreading ways, and researchers have looked at how it holds its own in the grass. Modern propagation practice has made this species straightforward to raise by ordinary good methods.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Ox-Eye Daisy earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. For meadow and wild border, ox-eye daisy is a bright, generous plant. Its white-and-gold heads open through early summer, and they are a familiar and valuable food for bees, hoverflies and butterflies of the season. Plant is a tough, easy grower of open, sunny ground, and it will flower again and again through summer, filling meadow with its swaying heads. Thereafter it wants only the ordinary attentions any garden plant receives.
Shasta daisies are the cheerful backbone of the summer border and make long-lasting cut flowers; they have no medicinal record.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Ox-Eye Daisy under ordinary good conditions. Surface-sow onto a light, well-drained compost, dust over a thin covering, and keep evenly moist and sunny until the seedlings show. A cool, moist period before sowing helps the seeds wake evenly — a few weeks in damp medium in the refrigerator is the usual approach. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
Given the right start, Ox-Eye Daisy is a long-term garden companion. As an upright, clump-forming perennial, it settles into a routine quickly once established. After establishment, care settles into an easy routine.
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