PlantFiles: African Daisy
Arctotis stoechadifolia

Planted two of these last Spring, and they flowered beautifully until the Summer heat arrived. This Spring I've discovered several little plants that have sprouted freely in the landscape from the seeds of those two original plants--a pleasant surprise.

Firstly, many thanks to whomever hosts this site. It is the most useful site, in my opinion, for any horticulture information. I especially like how the comments are labeled by region, as we are new to this area and appreciate being able to see how certain plants fare in this climate.

As for the African Daisy, just purchased my first seed packets and plan to sow directly, after adding a bit of top soil. We have very sandy soil, so I want to give them a hearty start.

Bought these seeds on a whim. With all the positive comments surrounding this flower, I cannot wait to see them bloom! Bought them as a companion to some sunflowers that are going in a neighboring garden area. Hoping they will complement one another well!

Thanks again for a great resource! :D

A tough and fast-growing groundcover that thrives on neglect, Arctotis stoechadifolia surprisingly only occurs naturally along a small coastal strip in South Africa.
A sprawling perennial, the silver arctotis forms a striking silver-grey carpet that easily covers an area of about 1.2 m wide, with upright shoots and flowers standing about 350 mm high. The showy flowers are large, single daisies with long, creamy to light yellow petals that are marked with red/maroon underneath. The centre of the flowers is black. Flowering for a few months from spring to summer (September-December in South Africa), it creates quite a show with masses of flowers. Typical for Arctotis, the flowers only open with sunlight; the flowerheads curve down as they start to seed, only straightening up when the seed is ready to be blown away by the wind. The big, fluffy seeds ripen quickly within weeks after flowering and are easy to collect as they loosen and fall from the seed head.
In California and Southern Australia where Arctotis stoechadifolia is often planted in gardens or as a coastal sand-stabilising plant, it is starting to become a weed as it invades natural areas. Very adaptable, Arctotis stoechadifolia manages to thrive in the harsh coastal conditions with hot dry summers, sandy conditions, strong winds, salt spray and low winter rainfall (500mm and less in this area).
An African genus, Arctotis has about 50 species that occur from southern Africa to Angola . The species of Arctotis are very difficult to characterise, which makes the identification of the different species very difficult, especially as there is no recent revision of the genus, plus and there are many natural and man-made hybrids.
Plants are pollinated by bees that frequently visit the flowers during the day.
Arctotis species and hybrids are very popular garden plants across the world as they are easy to grow and very floriferous, with large flowers in a range of colours.
Flowering for a few months, Arctotis stoechadifolia can by used in endless combinations as the seasons change. In coastal gardens this is one of the best groundcovers to retain the sand cover. Arctotis stoechadifolia is easy to grow but must be planted in full sun and soil with good drainage. Adapted to the Mediterranean climate of the Cape , it can survive with very little water in summer after the winter rains. Plants need to be protected from frost, but should resprout after frost damage.
You can grow them from cuttings made throughout the year. Tip cuttings taken from a healthy growing stem root easily and are placed in a tray filled with well-drained sand. The rooted cuttings are grown on in bags before planted into the garden, but could be planted directly into the garden beds especially during the cooler winter months.
Seeds should be sown in seed trays during autumn and planted into small pots to be grown on as soon as they are a size that are easy to handle.

I love this plant. I treat it as an annual in my zone (which is actually colder than the official one, we are in a microclimate). I start the seeds under lights in March to transplant outdoors in late May. The seeds are not easy to find. Parks used to have them. I have gotten mine from Pine Tree for years but they weren't in the 2007 catalog. Fortunately, I still had some old ones. This summer I saved seed. Hopefully, they will bloom true. My arctotis bloom from July through light frosts. I have never seen any volunteers from the year before.

Also known as Blue-eyed Daisy.

2005 was the first time I've grown this plant...but it most certainly won't be the last!

I started it indoors well before our last frost. It germinated exceptionally well and tolerated a lot of neglect as things got very busy when the weather finally settled.

I believe that it first bloomed in late June or early July. I was immediately taken with the beauty of it's bloom and its striking silver velvet-like foilage. But I only *thought* I liked then.

As the summer wore on and the drought in our area got worse (...and I got too tired to water all my gardens in the same day) the Arctotis just got prettier. It was planted with a couple of packs of medium to tall mixed zinnias...and the combination, especially with the pink double zinnias, was incredible!

So here it is the end of the season and just guess which flowers are still in bloom? Yep! Those Arctotis are STILL growing like crazy. Needless to say, I'm saving seeds and making plans to have in several other places next year.

~julie~

I loved this flower! I seemed to thrive on neglect. Before the flowers ever came I was already in love with it for the beautiful, silvery, soft, Lambs ear- like foliage.

This is an easy annual and will reward you oodles of blue-eyed, white daisies. The plants were easy to start from seeds and it bloomed all summer long. Heat and drought didn't phase it.