I wanted to show you the beautiful daisy plants I've grown from cuttings here at Struan Farm, and this title came to mind. "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" was the title of a television show that aired in the US during my childhood. It was based on a movie starring Doris Day and David Niven, which was based on a book by Jean Kerr. All that being said, this has no relevance to my daisies, except for the fact that I would appreciate it if you didn't eat them!
Last year family friend Mary Spellman hosted a garden party as a fundraiser for the local rural women's group. She'd grown daisies to have in pots around the entrance tent to the party, and gave me a few afterwards, cautioning me to take cuttings inside before winter since the plants in the garden would most likely die from heavy frost. I heeded that advice, and have ended up with quite a few new plants for the gardens. They are coming out of the glasshouse for planting this week, along with some purple salvias. Salvias are meant to be perennial but I can never get them to survive Piopio winters, so use the same approach of taking cuttings and growing some plants in the glasshouse for the next season.
p.s. And wouldn't you know it, the daisy I planted out in the garden last year didn't die over winter. It did get hit and needs a good cutback, but looks like it will come again. But I'm sure if I hadn't taken cuttings it would have been dead, that's just the way the universe works.
Comments