PlantFiles: Shasta Daisy
Leucanthemum x superbum 'Alaska'

I purchased two plants 3 years ago from Home Depot. I put then next to each other (1 ft ) apart. They have grown fat and tall. Each plant get a good 2 ft tall and a good 3 ft wide. I use cotton string to hold them up. I pluck the dried flowers and drop them onto the ground. They re-bloom. I love them, my neighbors comment about them all the time. I do have to water them once or twice a week because of the drought. I live in the west side of Columbus, OH.

I'm really disliking this plant. I started this from seed last spring. This summer is the first it's bloomed. I will say it has bloomed quite a bit, and they are pretty -- but my goodness it does droop like CRAZY! Poor thing looks like it's dead! I have it in a mostly sunny location, shade in the morning, about 6 hours direct sun. I've tried really watering it, hoping it would perk up, but nope doesn't work. When the shade finally comes over it still doesn't perk back up for several hours. Sure enough by the next morning it's back to normal, only to droop like crazy again. I moved it to a dappled sun area in back of other plants, we'll see how that goes. Also, mine's grown to about 4, almost 5 feet tall! I hate to dump them because they look so sad and dead, but I'll have to if they don't do better. Who wants a dead looking plant all day long? As others have reported, I have not noticed an odor.
I've just ordered some "Becky" daisies, I've read those don't droop. We shall see.

I hate to rate this plant as a neg, but, with my experience yesterday, I must! My aunt called, her garden ctr was closing for the season & offered plants they had leftover. Alaska Shasta Daisy being one. On the tag, it said, CAUTION: May cause skin allergy. I thought, ah well, not me..am only allergic to Poison Oak & Ivy and Milkweed. I simply moved the plants to the spot I had in mind in the garden, holding the pots with gloves. It was too hot to plant. About midnite, my hands , feet, and torso, and eventually virtually every spot on my body was blazing red and itching and burning like mad. I began to panic and thought over everything I had touched and eaten, nothing out of the norm. I think it was the daisies.

I planted two shasta daisy "Alaska"s last year, they grew fine in the hot Houston sun. Even when they wilted in the heat, they quickly came back to life with a little watering. I divided the root clumps this year, and got three vigorous plants from each original. Each new plant grew with literally hundreds of beautiful, long-lasting blooms. They tend to grow a little lanky(up to 4 feet tall), so I recommend supporting them with hoop-style supports. One caveat: Although their fragrance is not strong, I find it to be unpleasant, so I simply choose not to sniff these flowers, or plant them near other sweet smelling flowers. The butterflies seem to be attracted to them, though.

I planted several of these from seed the only ones of the shastas that have ever come back through the winter for me. Large flowers on large plant . The first year only had a couple flowers this year a lot and they last a long time They can get sprawly sometimes give them room and sun.

This bloomed the second season after I started it from seed about 5 years ago. The main clump is thriving in full sun in our clayish soil without much additional watering. We enjoy its dark green foliage in the spring before the summer flowering begins. The blooms are rather stinky (!) so if I ever cut the flowers I keep them in an outdoor vase away from the table where food is being served. It self sows rather easily and I have been able to transplant a few seedlings to other parts of the yard.

I have had Shasta daisy 'Alaska,' which I started from seed, in the same spot in my garden for years. I love daisies, but it is always a disappointment because as soon as the flowers open, some kind of bug gets them and the centers have black sections or become totally black. I am a sporadic gardener and haven't tried yet to do anything about the bugs. Today, I divided the clump and put them in different spots in my yard. I'm also going to try insecticidal soap in hopes of getting yellow centers. I am also bothered by the flopping over. Next year I will try a different variety like Becky.

I grow this Shasta Daisy in my central Virginia garden with great pleasure. It's very well behaved, but I do deadhead regularly. The cut flowers last well in vases and bloom continues well into fall, with the clump slowly increasing - it's on it's 4th year in one spot and time to divide. Another clump planted in partial shade did well for 2 years but then sadly, expired. The plant gets about 3' high with many cheerful flowers, but tends to fall over after the first heavy rain and stays that way.

This didn't last in my garden. I planted two of these in a perennial bed in 2006 and they came up beautifully last year. We had a very snowy and cold winter this past winter, and these two plants did not make it. They did, however, self seed, and I have a ton of seedlings. Very small seedlings, and I don't think I will see blooms this year. I'm pretty disappointed, considering they is supposed to be hardy to Z3, and I am Z5.

I do love this daisy when it is blooming...it's really gorgeous. It does flop and I would recommend staking or some sort of cage.

I began shasta daisy 'alaska' indoors before spring with seeds. I planted the seedlings in a pot and put outdoors in early spring. They grew wonderfully into beautiful greens. It is now the second day of fall and I have had no blooms. The plants have looked very healthy all summer, but now they seem to be wilting. I read somewhere that it can take 2-3 years to begin getting blooms. Does anyone know about this? What am I to do with the plant now? I've been told maybe I should cut it and bring it in for the winter. I've also been told to leave it alone and outside and it will be back next year. Any help?
Anna

Not my favorite daisy. It is tall and tends to flop, self-seeds everywhere, and subsequent blooms are smaller and fewer. My seed packet says hardy in zones 3-11. Light aids germination of seeds.

This plant is very hardy in zone 5. It comes back year after year and just gets better each time.

A pretty plant, but the foliage has (for me) a very unpleasant odor. It requires support to keep it upright.

Excellent cut flower! The plants need to be staked or caged to keep from falling over (due to heavy rain). I make cages out of chicken wire. Or, one can use stakes and make grids out of string or rope about 18 inches above the ground. The plants will grow between the grids for support, and keep the stems and flowers straight.

I have a chronic problem spot on my patio - an 18" X 60" bed of clay soil surrounded by cement with a southwest exposure - hot and dry. Planted seeds last year, got a small amount of short foliage. Transplanted a few plants to other spaces around the yard. Foliage did not completely die back in our northeast Ohio winter, zone 5b.

This spring they have come back with a vengence, especially in that patio bed. They are 30-plus inches tall, filled with blooms and buds and seem to thrive in the dry, clay soil. I tossed in a light feeding of slow release fertilizer early in the season and for all intents and purposes ignore them. They are huge. Very bushy and, so far, sturdy. Plants set in other locations are getting a bit ragged around the bottom, but that may be due to several weeks of heavy rains we experienced here early on - great for the roses but everything else was waterlogged.

Highly recommend these if you have a hot, dry problem spot with direct sun. Don't look for much the first year if you are starting from seed. I'm deadheading after 2 or 3 days, getting plenty of new flowers. I can see that I will have to thin these down at the end of the season if I don't want to be overrun with them next year.

Berea, Ohio

Great reliable plant with no special requirements. Blooms in full sun. May require some staking. Try a tomato cage in the spring before the plant gets too big. This will help most of the stems to stay upright. To delay flowering pinch or snip plant back. This method to delay flowering also works well with garden mums & produces a bushier plant. I don't find reseeding to be a big problem. Established clumps are easy to divide & transplant. A very undemanding plant.