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Moon Daisy
– Leucanthemum vulgare June must be the month of
the moon daisy, traditionally thought to flower on mid summer’s day. This plant
has many local names, the most widely known being ox eye daisy, marguerite, moon penny and
dog daisy, the latter because of the flower’s unfortunate smell! Dog daisy is a
common name for this plant throughout Europe, where, in the past, it was placed in
doorways to prevent the house from being struck by lightening. It also had several
medicinal uses, and was thought to bring relief from asthma, and to heal wounds and
ulcers. Leucanthemum vulgare was,
until fairly recently, called Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, translating literally as ‘a
white flowered yellow flower’. The white petals earn it its association with
the moon as the flowers appear to glow in the evening light. It is one of the easiest
wildflowers to grow from seed, so if you are a beginner with wildflowers it is a good one
to start off with. Like the majority of native species it prefers to be sown in a
soil based (John Innes type) compost and doesn’t require any special treatment or
temperatures. It can be sown at almost any time of year and will germinate reliably.
A small pinch of seed on the top of compost in a 9cm pot, covered lightly with
grit, will produce a rash of seedlings within a couple of weeks, ready to prick out into
pots or plugs. These can then be planted out into a meadow, a wildflower border, or
under a sunny hedge. Sowing the seed in this way will ensure you do have something
to plant. Scattering seed directly onto dense grass just doesn’t work. It will
grow in almost all soil types, even very dry sandy soils, and prefers to be out in full
sun, or at least to have sun for most of the day. The moon daisy is quite short lived and its aftercare can be a bit problematic. People sometimes have a problem with it dying out in meadow areas where it initially thrived and I am often asked how to remedy this. Because it is a short lived perennial it relies on seeding freely onto bare soil to maintain its numbers. This means that any area where it grows must be cut and raked very thoroughly in late summer. The raking will expose some bare soil, particularly if moss is removed, and the moon daisy will be able to seed and flourish. In a dense sward the seeds can’t make that all-important seed to soil contact and will not germinate. This lovely plant is a
joy in its own right, with its glowing white petals and yellow central disk, but it is
also a good insect attractant for a wildlife garden. It is pollinated by a variety
of insects, and several species of butterfly will visit the flowers in June. In
particular it is one of the few flowers that will attract the marbled white, and if it is
grown in meadow grass, the moon daisy can help to establish a colony of this beautiful
butterfly.
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