Cut Leaf Daisy ‘Mauve’

Cut Leaf Daisy 'Mauve' (Brachyscome iberidifolia 'Mauve') is the quickest way to put flowers along the front edge of a bed. It makes a low mound about 30cm high and 40cm across, smothered in soft mauve daisies through the warmer months, and flowers within weeks of planting. Western Australian by origin, it takes heat, salt air and dry spells in its stride.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers almost continuously. Mauve daisies with yellow centres appear from spring through the warm months, and light trimming brings on the next flush.
• Small enough for any front row. At 30cm tall and 40cm wide it edges a path without creeping over it or swamping plants behind.
• Genuinely tough. Drought and heat tolerant, and happy in coastal salt air, so it holds up where softer annuals give out.
• A magnet for pollinators. Native bees, hoverflies and butterflies work the open flowers all season.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 30cm apart, about nine per square metre. The mounds knit together by the end of the first warm season with no bare soil between them.

Borders and edging. A single row 30cm apart along a path or driveway gives a soft flowering margin that never spills onto the paving.

Pots, rockeries and hot corners. It suits a shallow bowl, a retaining wall top or the gravelly pockets of a rockery, where sharp drainage plays to its strengths. In a container, use a free draining mix and a pot at least 250mm wide.

Growing cut leaf daisy in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, and plenty of it, because flowering thins in shade. It grows across subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and tolerates light frost only, so in cold inland and tableland gardens treat it as a warm season plant or pot it and move it under cover.

Soil. Free draining is the requirement, and sandy or gravelly soils suit it perfectly. On clay, raise the bed or plant into a mound, because winter wet is the usual cause of losses.

Water and feed. Water twice a week for the first six weeks, then only through extended dry weather. A light low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring is enough for the season.

Pruning. Shear the plant back by about a third once the main flush finishes. That keeps the mound tight and triggers fresh flowering rather than letting the centre go woody.

What to expect when it arrives

Tube stock is the standard size for small daisies. Tubes arrive as young plants a few centimetres across and establish rapidly: expect them to double within about six weeks in warm weather and reach the full 40cm spread by the end of the first season. It is currently on backorder, so allow extra time when you order.

Small, light plants travel well, though some leaf wilt on arrival is normal. Plant promptly, water in well and keep the soil damp for a fortnight. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Planning an Australian native garden from scratch
• Browse the full range of groundcover plants.
• Find companions among our Australian native plants.
• See what else suits a rockery or gravel garden.

Common questions

How many do I need to cover a square metre?

About nine at the recommended 30cm spacing. Stretching to 40cm uses roughly six and still closes up, it simply takes longer.

Is it an annual or does it come back?

It is a short lived perennial in warm temperate and subtropical gardens, holding on two or three years before it needs replacing. In cold districts, where it takes light frost only, treat it as a warm season plant.

Why has mine stopped flowering?

Usually too much shade, or a plant gone woody in the middle after a long flush. Shear it back by a third, give it the sunniest position you have, and it should flower again within weeks.