Bellis perennis, more commonly called the English daisy, is most often thought of as a lawn weed found throughout North America. English daisies are actually much more than that. A native plant in much of Europe, this perennial has been naturalized across the United States and attracts masses of beneficial insects and pollinators to the garden. English daisies are available in a wide range of pinks, reds, and white flowers making them also highly ornamental and useful for filling in blank spots in a garden border or mixed seasonal container planting.
English daisies are cold-hardy enough to be included in the earliest bedding plantings late in the winter when the risk of hard freezing is over. Full sun to partial shade is acceptable as long as the soil they are planted in is well-draining and moderately fertile. Deadhead the plants when the first flush of flowering is over to promote the development of more blooms. Typically when the weather warms in early summer, English daisies begin to die back for the year but can be encouraged to stay around longer if grown in a slightly shaded location and kept well watered.
Shrubs To Plant With English Daisy
English daisies make for an enchanting understory layer for early blooming deciduous and evergreen shrubs. Lilac, Forsythia, Camellia, Rhododendron, Azaleas, and Pieris are all great choices to plant under. Incorporate English daisies into the lawn under trees and shrubs to give your yard a naturalistic or cottage garden feel. The daisies will also attract early-season pollinators and help the overall pollination and future harvest of fruit trees like apples, cherries, pears, or plums.
Perennials To Plant With English Daisy
Combine English daisy in a mix of wildflowers for a low-growing meadow effect. Chamomile, Oregano, species primrose, chives, white clover, and other alliums grow easily in full sun locations as long as the soil is moderately moist all season. Ornamental Oregano, kale, and cabbages make for good fall plantings along with a fresh crop of English daisies. All plants will tolerate fairly cold temperatures and a few light frosts before they will need to be removed.
Grow English daisies as a place marker (specifically to protect from weeding and early season cleanup) for later emerging herbaceous perennials like hardy Hibiscus or very late-season grasses. Once these plants emerge in the early summer it will be time for the English Daisies to go dormant.
Annuals To Plant With English Daisy
Plant English Daisies in the vegetable garden to perform as an early-season beneficial insect attractor. Other hardy annuals like Calendula, pansies, violas, primrose, sweet alyssum, forget-me-nots, and California poppies also are great for allowing to self-seed and create habitat for wildlife in the landscape. All of these annuals are easily pulled the following spring to control where and how far they spread and are not picky about the soil or amount of sun they receive during the day.
Best Companion Plants For English Daisy in Containers
Window boxes, hanging baskets, and other containers for early spring are a great way to start the gardening season a little earlier than normal. Combine hardy annuals along with tough perennials that look great all winter for a never-miss combination. Window boxes filled with dwarf conifers, heather, and English Ivy are quickly refreshed with a few plants of English daisy added, Pansy, violas, Bacopa, and Ranunculus are traditional early spring plants that come in a wide range of colors to satisfy any garden scheme. English daisies added to small pots filled with single varieties of spring bulbs, like crocus, species daffodil, or tulips, help to soften the edges of a pot and add a textural filler layer.
Plants Not To Grow With English Daisy
Pair English daisies with other plants that have roughly the same more delicate stature. Overly large or aggressively spreading plants like Canna, Colocasia, Hollyhocks, or Asiatic lilies will appear to be out of scale when planted with the more diminutive English daisy. Plants that require extremely dry soils and hot locations like cacti, Aloes, or Yuccas are also not great choices for planting alongside English daisies.
Best Plants To Grow English Daisy
Early-season annuals (like pansies, violas, and primrose) and perennial spring bulbs are the best choices to highlight the delicate but tough qualities of English daisies. Do not discount their use in meadow lawn mixes just because the English daisy goes dormant in the summer. The cheerful flowers and low-growing mats of foliage are a welcome site early in the spring and help to push out and suppress other weeds from germinating in a lawn. Early pollen-producing plants are also a lifeline for the earliest native and solitary bees.
Sources: “Hort Update” Texas Cooperative Extension, www.aggie-hort.tamu.edu