Friday, March 29, 2024

Blackfoot daisy

Posted

With summer upon us, it’s time to think about water conservation.

While having a few plants with high moisture requirements won’t break the bank, too many will put a costly demand on your resources.

Replacing water hogs with annuals, shrubs and perennials that use water efficiently will make you smile when you open your water bill!

What’s better at surviving with little moisture than plants known to grow in arid, desert environments?

One such plant is native perennial blackfoot daisy (Melampodim leucanthum).

Low-growing blackfoot daisy provides a lot of bang for very few bucks. It acts as a wide-spreading ground cover, blooms non-stop spring through fall, is salt-tolerant and has minimal water needs. The plant develops a mounding habit and sports attractive, narrow-leafed gray-green foliage.

In early spring, small, white, daisy flowers with yellow centers appear on short stalks above the foliage. Blooms continuously cover the plant!

What’s more, the flowers emit a sweet scent that lures birds and butterflies. While drawing beneficial wildlife, blackfoot daisy’s scent discourages deer browsing – another plus!

Blackfoot daisy is native to dry, arid slopes with rocky soils and prairies, but it will thrive in home landscapes as long as the soil is well drained.

Caution must be used not to overwater the plant as it can die from too much moisture. Although grown in desert-like environments at high temperatures, this plant is winter hardy and easily survives temperatures well below freezing.

It blooms best in full sun, but it will tolerate part shade. It looks beautiful planted in rock gardens, at landscape bed edges or tumbling over walls.

While it is tempting to trim blackfoot daisy to keep its branching habit in bounds, this plant does not respond well to severe pruning. Instead, remove spent flowers to encourage bloom and snip away dead stalks. Wait until late winter to gently shape the plant. By early spring, the plant rebounds and covers itself in leaves and flowers.

Blackfoot daisy does not require fertilizer. It thrives once established on rainfall alone. If the plant is to be sited in an irrigated landscape bed, it’s best to place it far away from overhead sprinklers. Drip irrigation is more appropriate for this plant.

Although blackfoot daisy is considered a short-lived perennial (3-5 years), it may reseed. This rugged heat-and drought-tolerant beauty is a superb plant for use where rainfall is scarce.

For answers to your horticulture questions, call the Texas AgriLife Extension, Hood County at 817-579-3280 or go online to visit lakegranburymastergardeners.org .