marguerite daisy

Flowers that fall under the generic term, ‘daisy’ are members of the largest group of flowering plants consisting of about 23 000 currently accepted species, spread across 1 620 genera. We find them in all sorts of environments, in different colours, and in various sizes and configurations. Despite the apparent delicate nature of their petals, they prove to be tough plants. These daisies have managed to survive the current drought and continue to provide a splash of colour in our garden:

One of the several orange and yellow Namaqualand Daisies grown from seed.

A type of Gazania – note how small its leaves are.

Bought from a nursery a few years ago, this Marguerite is a true survivor.

Van Stadens River Daisy – grown from cuttings taken from my mother’s farm garden.

An unknown survivor from a packet of mixed indigenous seeds planted three years ago.

As we walk around gardens, we tend to take in the broad sweep of trees, grass, flowers, vegetables and paths – perhaps noticing the odd weed to be pulled, branches to be trimmed, bare patches to be filled, and general pruning to be done. This morning called for a much closer look at what is in my garden. These are some of what I discovered:

While the Marguerite daisies I have showed off before are still providing a dazzling display of white blooms next to the swimming pool, a closer look shows not only this metallic coloured fly in the centre of this one, but you will see tiny threads of spider web linking some of the bottom petals in this image. If there is a tiny spider on these flowers, I could not find one.

I couldn’t find the spider that built this intricate bridge spanning the narrow gap between the steps and a wall either. Trapped within it though are tendrils from the Virginia creeper and a tiny yellow leaf.

The purple and white petunias I planted last week begged for a closer look – again, we tend to admire their overall beauty from afar – and I am struck by the intricate veins and the patterns within the delicate petals that draw the eye (and presumably the bees and other insects) down to the centre.

An interesting bloom of a different kind is the lichen growing on the branches of the frangipani and the bloom of algae in the bird bath after the heat of yesterday.