Reviewed By ROY NICOL
Roy is a Professional Gardener and Horticultural Consultant, specialising in large garden year-round maintenance and garden development. He is an RHS Master of Horticulture and uses his research in the application of no-dig methods in ornamental garden settings. Roy has been a Professional Gardener for more than six years and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Professional Gardener's Guild and Association of Professional Landscapers (Professional Gardener).
IN THIS GUIDE
- 1) O. ecklonis
- 2) O. ‘Sunny Mary’ (Sunny Series)
- 3) O. ‘White Pim’
- 4) O. ‘Weetwood’
- 5) O. ‘Stardust’
- 6) O. ‘Erato Purple’ (Erato Series)
- 7) O. ‘Sunny Gaia’
- 8) O. ‘Buttermilk’
- 9) O. ‘Serenity Sunshine Beauty’
- 10) O. ‘Purple Sun’
- 11) O. ‘Akila White Purple Eye’ (Akila Series)
- 12) O. ‘Snow Pixie’
- 13) O. ‘Cannington Roy’
- 14) O. ‘Lady Leitrim’
- 15) O. ‘Tresco Purple’
- 16) O. ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’
- Dizzying Diversity
- References
Everyone loves daisies and that’s just what Osteospermum is – a bushy little plant with those wide-open disk-shaped daisies.
These lovely little wildflowers originate from the warm savannah and grassland of South Africa.
Not surprisingly, therefore, these are frost-tender plants with the vast majority having a hardiness rating of H3 and a few others even less than that.
Until very recently African daisies were not all that diverse in floral colour: barring a few varieties in bright or saturated tones, most of them came in soothing, low-key shades of pinks, purples, and white, plus a few yellows.
Of late, cultivars boasting vibrant tones and bicoloured or gradated flowers have entered the market.
African Daisies will make for a merry front border and are also excellent choices as little companions to fill gaps between statelier specimen plants.
All of my favourite picks in this article are H3 hardy, will grow in chalk, loam or sand, and will do well in any soil pH.
Without further ado, here are sixteen stunning osteospermum varieties:
1) O. ecklonis
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Why not begin with this species plant, that is almost twice as tall as the others on this list, growing up to 1m.
Even its variably-shaped leaves are 8-10cm long making African daisies a giant among its species.
The 5-8cm flowers are white, though they do have a darker shade of blue-purple if you care to look underneath.
2) O. ‘Sunny Mary’ (Sunny Series)
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Sunny Mary’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Pink and purple
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Continuing with those rule-proving exceptions, this one’s a cultivar that falls squarely in the middle of the height range at about 30cm.
However, ‘Sunny Mary’ breaks the mould in floral shade: the classic daisy flowers occur in bright, even vivid tones, from pink through magenta to purple.
It is also notable for flowering all summer long.
3) O. ‘White Pim’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘White Pim’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: White
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.2m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
At the opposite end of the scale to both of the above selections, this variety is ultra short in height and produces white flowers.
O. ‘White Pim’ has a mat-forming habit and attains a height of only 10-20cm.
The pure white flowers, with a purplish flush on the undersides, are not exactly big at 6cm, but they begin blooming from late spring and continue into autumn.
This variety has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
4) O. ‘Weetwood’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Weetwood’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: White
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
‘Weetwood’ is an African daisy of bushy habit, rising to about 35cm, and bearing hard white flowers about 6cm wide and with a golden-yellow disk.
It has some foliage interest by virtue of its distinctly greyish-green leaves and also has a long flowering season starting in late spring and finishing up in autumn.
This variety has also received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
5) O. ‘Stardust’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Stardust’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Pink
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
‘Stardust’ is about 40cm tall and produces full-looking flowers that are quite striking in chalky but bright tones of mauve through purple, centred with a contrasting yellow disk.
They start appearing in early summer and wind up in early autumn.
6) O. ‘Erato Purple’ (Erato Series)
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Erato Purple’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Purple and orange
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Breaking the mould, this proprietary cultivar has a hard-to-categorise habit – technically bushy, ‘Erato Purple’ is of a billowing form that makes this daisy a top choice for a hanging basket.
The foliage is in a rich, intense hue of dark green but it is outdone by the unusual, spectacular flowers which are of a deep, intense hue of magenta-purple with an orange centre.
7) O. ‘Sunny Gaia’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Sunny Gaia’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: BURGUNDY
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Back to ‘orthodox’ heights and habits but staying with vibrancy, this newer cultivar has bright green foliage in a perfect clump-forming habit, and reaches up to 30cm tall.
The flowers of ‘Sunny Gaia’ have a satiny sheen that enhances their rich, saturated purple-burgundy tone.
They bloom from early summer clear into mid-autumn.
8) O. ‘Buttermilk’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Buttermilk’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Yellow
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Dialling back on the intensity, ‘Buttermilk’ is a well-heeled cultivar that will make a brilliant contrast with the one above, for its 7cm flowers are a pale, buttery yellow, with its petals emerging virtually white.
These flowers are centred by a brownish-purple disk.
The long flowering season gets underway before summer begins and finishes after it ends.
It has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
9) O. ‘Serenity Sunshine Beauty’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Serenity Sunshine Beauty’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Orange and yellow
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Doubling up on the colour yellow, this cultivar is of much more recent vintage and its brand of yellow is a spanking bright hue.
In fact, ‘Serenity Sunshine Beauty’ displays gradated petals that start bright yellow at the base and finish a rich orange at the tips, living up to its name.
This bushy variety reaches up to 25cm high and blooms through summer into early autumn.
10) O. ‘Purple Sun’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Purple Sun’
- FOLIAGE: Semi-Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Orange and purple
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
This relatively new proprietary cultivar is another one that features gradated flowers, with the difference in that they are verily tri-coloured.
Petals start purple near the centre and transition to pink with the outer half a soft, glowing apricot-orange.
‘Purple Sun’s lovely blooms are produced from early summer to early autumn.
It rises to about 30cm.
11) O. ‘Akila White Purple Eye’ (Akila Series)
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Akila White Purple Eye’
- FOLIAGE: Semi-Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Blue, purple and white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Another late cultivar, this biennial’s stunning flower has a purple-blue disk surrounded by a magenta shadow which transitions into pure white petals.
‘Akila White Purple Eye’ is a floriferous variety and produces very full flowers all through summer.
It grows to about 45cm in height and has a similar spread.
12) O. ‘Snow Pixie’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Snow Pixie’
- FOLIAGE: Semi-Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Yellow and white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Another cultivar that produces a stunning flower that is well and properly pure white centred with a pale, bright yellow disk, making for a classic daisy.
‘Snow Pixie’ is a very popular vintage model that rises to about 40cm.
It produces its elegant, simple flowers through summer into early autumn and is the most versatile and multi-purpose variety.
13) O. ‘Cannington Roy’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Cannington Roy’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Purple and white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
Growing to only about 20cm tall, this diminutive variety has nearly twice the spread of its height.
‘Cannington Roy’ flowers are of uniquely warm-cool tones that span light pink, mauve, and purple, changing in shade as they age.
Though they are just 5cm wide, they start coming before summer begins and continue well after it finishes.
14) O. ‘Lady Leitrim’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Lady Leitrim’
- FOLIAGE: Semi-Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Pink and white
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This time-honoured cultivar still enjoys tremendous popularity, for good reason: its 6-7cm flowers open white and gradually develop a pink-purple flush, especially at both ends of the petals, making for a particularly stylish daisy.
Adding to the merits of ‘Lady Leitrim’, it begins blooming in late spring and ends sometime in autumn.
It has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
15) O. ‘Tresco Purple’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Nairobi Purple’
- FOLIAGE: Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Purple
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Summer / Autumn
- EXPOSURE: Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
A well-known cultivar whose many synonyms reflect its widespread popularity, it grows to about 30cm and has a similar spread.
‘Tresco Purple’ boasts intensely-coloured flowers that are of a vibrant magenta-purple hue and are centred with a violet disk.
They are produced from the beginning of summer to the beginning of autumn.
16) O. ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’
- COMMON NAME(S): African Daisy ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’
- FOLIAGE: Semi-Evergreen
- FLOWERS: Blue, yellow and purple
- FLOWERING SEASON(S): Spring / Summer
- EXPOSURE: Exposed / Sheltered
- SIZE: 0.1-0.5m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
Boasting virtually a tri-coloured flower, ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ even manages to combine complementary colours.
The plant has a height and spread of about 40cm and blooms through the summer.
The gorgeous flowers feature a chocolate disk with petals that are bright yellow for the most part but are wine-purple near the centre.
This cultivar holds Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) meaning it cannot be propagated without the owner’s permission.
Dizzying Diversity
Some shrub species such as O. ecklonis reach a height of 1m but in contrast, the subshrub O. ‘Cannington Roy’, like O. ‘Snow Pixie’, grows to only 15cm – merely 5cm more than the length of O. ecklonis’s leaves!
Talking of leaves, the diversity within Osteospermum extends even to that part of the plant.
The leaves are lanceolate or ovate, with toothed or entire margins, depending on the species or cultivar.
Furthermore, one and the same species, for example, O. ecklonis, can put out leaves of different morphologies!
As a general rule, toothed leaves indicate a hardy variety – such varieties, rather than growing upright, usually spread along the ground forming clumps.
The African Daisy has about 70 species and an increasing number of cultivars; indeed, the Royal Horticultural Society lists over 900 varieties.1A. (2017, April 26). Production Guidelines for Four Crops—Osteospermum, Angelonia, Calibrachoa & Ornamental Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas). Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-floriculture/fact-sheets/production-guidelines-for-four-crops-osteospermum-angelonia
Many of these varieties are notable not only for the ray florets but even for the central disks which sometimes provide a fine contrast to the rays setting them off or sometimes are of deep or metallic colours that are attractive in their own right.
Some varieties have bicoloured disks; others have rays in gradated shades.
This humble daisy spoils both gardeners and florists for choice as it can light up a flower bed just as well as a floral arrangement.
