Cape Daisy ‘Margarita Plus White’

Cape Daisy 'Margarita Plus White' (Osteospermum hybrid) is the flowering carpet for a hot, dry, sunny bed. It grows fast to about 30cm tall and 60cm wide, then covers itself in white daisies with a slate blue eye from late winter through spring. Few plants give this much colour for this little water.

Why you'll love it

• A long, heavy flowering season. Late winter through spring, with a lighter repeat in mild autumn weather.
• Fast to cover ground. A tube planted in autumn is a 60cm mound by its first spring.
• Drought and heat hardy. Once established it survives on rainfall in most of the country, including hot dry inland summers.
• Coastal ready and busy with insects. Salt tolerant enough for a seaside front garden, and the open flowers are easy for bees and butterflies to work.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 40cm apart. The mounds knit together within a season and suppress most weeds; wider spacing leaves bare patches through the first year.

Borders and edging. At 30cm high it softens a path edge or the front of a border without blocking what is behind.

Rockeries and pots. Sharp drainage plays to its strengths in a gravel garden or dry rockery. In pots it spills over the rim, and a 300mm container holds a single plant comfortably.

Growing Cape Daisy in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, and plenty of it: flowers close in shade and the plant goes leggy. It suits warm temperate, Mediterranean, subtropical and arid or semi-arid gardens. It takes light frost only, so in cold southern and tableland districts treat it as a seasonal planting or pot it where you can shelter it.

Soil. Free draining above all. Sandy and gravelly soils are ideal; on clay, raise the bed and work coarse sand and compost through it. Heavy wet ground over summer is the main way these plants are lost.

Water and feed. Water twice a week for the first six weeks, then only through extended dry spells. A light feed of complete slow release fertiliser in early spring is all it asks for the year.

Pruning. Shear the whole planting back by about a third once the main spring flush finishes. Skip it and the plants go woody and bare in the middle.

What to expect when it arrives

This cape daisy is sold as tube stock: small plants, often a rosette of leaves with little visible flower, which is exactly what you want for something this fast. Plant them straight out at 40cm spacing.

Tube stock travels well. Water them in, keep the bed damp for the first fortnight, then stretch the intervals. Expect first flowers within eight to twelve weeks from a spring planting. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Our guide to low growing plants for borders.
• Browse the wider groundcover range.
• Compare plants for a rockery or gravel garden.
• More drought tolerant plants for a waterwise bed.

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

At 40cm spacing, about six plants per square metre, which closes into a continuous carpet inside one growing season.

Why has it gone woody and stopped flowering?

They get bare at the base if they are never cut. Shear back by a third after the main spring flush each year, and replace plants every three to four years.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. In warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens it comes through winter fine, but hard frost burns the foliage and can kill young plants outright.