Planting & Caring For Shasta Daisies

Planting and caring for Shasta daisies will provide you with a garden favorite for both the cottage and the English garden.

Shasta daisies are short-lived perennials. This means that they only live for a few years.

To keep Shasta daisy plants growing in your garden year after year, introduce additional plants into the garden bed on a yearly basis.

Plant Category:

Shasta daisies were once considered members of the Chrysanthemum family.

Because they are not aromatic and their leaves don’t have grayish-white hairs, they were split from the Chrysanthemum family.

They are now considered to be in the Aster family.

Common relatives are chrysanthemum, aster, sunflower, strawflower, lettuce, endive, zinnia, and ageratum.

Personally, I just don’t think a garden without Shasta daisies would be a true garden.

Daisies are a common feature in cottage gardens. They are commonly seen in English gardens with their white petals and sunshine yellow florets.

Are Shasta Daisies Easy To Grow From Seed?

A perennial, this flower blooms the first year from seed.

Its stems are sturdy enough to grow 3 to 4 feet tall without staking. Its clumping behavior means it’ll spread to fill your flower garden beds over time.

To plant, select a sunny site for your seeds with well-draining soil rich in organic matter. If you water the soil to keep it moist, the seeds should germinate in 10 to 20 days.

If you soak your seeds the germination rate increases.

How To Plant Shasta Daisies

Daisies like to spread, so space your plants 2-3 feet apart. Dig the hole twice the diameter of the container that you purchased it in.

When placing your daisy in the hole, make sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.

Fill in the dirt around the root ball and firm the soil. Then water thoroughly.

Planting Shasta Daisies In Containers:

If you prefer planting Shasta daisies in containers, use an all-purpose potting soil. Container-grown Shasta daisies prefer full sun, but they will tolerate partial shade too.

Caring for Shasta daisy plants in pots is easy as long as you keep them moist and pruned. Water regularly whenever the topsoil feels dry.

Repot Shasta daisies every 4-5 years.

Shasta Daisy Care

Shasta daisies are hardy plants and do not require much attention once they’re established.

They are both deer-resistant, drought-resistant, and rarely succumb to pests or diseases.

The way to extend the flowering season is to deadhead daisies regularly. I usually go out every day or so and deadhead the spent daisies.

Deadheading promotes new growth and encourages new blooms.

When & How To Deadhead Daisies?

The time to deadhead daisies is just before the blooms die back completely. As soon as the flowers began to fade or turn brown it’s time to deadhead.

You can use either a sharp knife or pruning shears.

Shasta daisies benefit from a hard prune in the fall, once frosts have damaged the leaves and blooms.

Cutting back and clearing away dead leaves discourages the risk of disease and pests to overwinter and spread.

However, if you forget you can cut them back once winter is over. The seed heads will provide food for the birds over the winter season.

Preparing Shasta Daisies For Winter:

You might want to add a 1-2 inch layer of mulch to protect them from cold winter weather.

The blooms of Shasta daisies attract butterflies and pollinators. Once established, they are vigorous growers and easily spread through rhizomes.

According to the ASPCA, daisies are toxic to dogs and cats.

Shasta daisies are a hardy perennial and should come back even after freezing winters in cold hardiness zones 5-8.

Some of the most common pest problems that affect Shasta daisies include aphids, slugs, and earwigs.

Leaf spots and Chrysanthemum nematode also impact Shasta daisies.

In terms of companion planting, Shasta daisies grow well with other tall blooming perennials.

Good choices are coneflowers, rudbeckia, bee balm, and Joe-Pye weed.