Cut Leaf Daisy ‘Hot Candy’

Cut Leaf Daisy 'Hot Candy' (Brachyscome 'Hot Candy') is a native groundcover that flowers almost without pause. It forms a low mound around 300mm high and 500mm wide of fine ferny foliage, then covers itself in bright pink daisies through the warmer months. It is the plant for the front of a bed that needs colour more than structure.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers for months, not weeks. Pink daisies open across the mound through spring and summer and keep going into autumn in a warm garden.
• Fine foliage that never looks coarse. The finely divided leaves sit well against strappy natives and stone.
• Tough in the conditions that matter. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant and salt tolerant, so a hot west facing bed or a coastal front garden suits it.
• Quick to cover, and busy with bees. Fast growing and low maintenance, and open daisy flowers are among the easiest for pollinators to work.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 40cm apart for dense flowering cover. At that spacing the mounds meet within a season and the pink reads as a continuous sheet rather than a row of dots.

Borders and edging. At 300mm high it is the right scale for the front edge of a bed or a path, low enough never to flop over a mowing line.

Rockeries and pots. It suits rockery pockets and performs in a container, where the mounding habit softens the rim of a 300mm pot.

Growing cut leaf daisy in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun. Shade gives you leaves and very few flowers. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and takes light frost only, so in genuinely cold districts expect winter damage.

Soil. Free draining soil is the single requirement, and it is not fussy about fertility. On clay, plant on a raised bed with compost and coarse sand worked through, because wet feet in winter rot the crown faster than any frost.

Water and feed. Water twice a week for the first six weeks, then only through genuine dry spells. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring, and go lightly: overfeeding produces foliage at the expense of flowers.

Pruning. Shear the whole mound back by about a third after the main flush, usually in late summer. That keeps it dense and flowering rather than woody and open in the centre, and it is the one job the plant genuinely needs.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in tube stock only, so what arrives is a small young plant with a compact root plug. That is an advantage when planting a bed at 40cm centres, because tubes establish quickly and cost far less per square metre than potted stock.

Tube stock is on backorder, so check the size selector for current availability before planning a full bed. Plant tubes out promptly, water in with a seaweed tonic, and expect the first flowers within six to eight weeks in warm weather. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing a groundcover for your conditions
• Browse the full groundcover range
• Compare plants for bees and butterflies
• Cut Leaf Daisy 'White Bliss' for the same plant in white

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

About six at the recommended 40cm spacing. Planting any tighter does not close the gaps faster and simply makes watering and feeding harder in the first season.

Is this the same plant as Swan River daisy?

Not quite, and the naming is loose across the trade. Named cut leaf daisies of this kind are usually selections of Brachyscome multifida rather than the annual Swan River daisy they are often listed under.

How do I stop it going woody in the middle?

Shear it back by a third after the main flush each year. That single cut keeps the mound dense and full of flower, while a plant left untrimmed for two or three seasons opens out and never fully recovers.