Top 10 Ground Covers-No. 2
I was so delighted to discover this wonderful little Mat Daisy in a small, funky nursery in another state. My yard is my own trial garden. I often pick up plants from wherever I happen to be traveling, and try them out in my garden. Even if the plants come from another climate zone. I never know if they will survive or exactly what they will do, but this is why my garden is full of new varieties of plants.
Mat Daisy is an extremely water-wise and very tough groundcover plant. Its foliage is a lovely feathery gray, spreading from a single plant that grows wider and wider in a circular pattern. Each spring, the foliage is completely covered with a tiny white daisy. In the early morning and at dusk, the flowers close, revealing a lovely dark pink underside. Then they open in full sunlight showing bright white.
Originally, I planted 3 single plants near my pond, where they sprea
d and trailed down into the water becoming a stunning addition. The plant spreads widely through seeds, self-sowing during winter, even during winters without much moisture. From those 3 original plants, I have hundreds of single plants that grow easily between flagstones.
And Mat Daisy grows in either organically amended soil or sandy, loose soil, making it very versatile. Because it has a single long tap root, Mat Daisy is extremely drought tolerant. Yet, it grows wider and more lush when water is more available.
This pretty groundcover definitely deserves a prominent place in your water-wise garden.
In sync with nature,
Tova Roseman
Earth Diva
