Seaside Daisy

Seaside Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus) produces more flowers for less effort than nearly anything else you can plant. Masses of small daisies open white and blush pink as they age, covering a low mound about 30cm tall and 80cm wide that spills over walls, edges and steps. It is frost hardy, drought tolerant and content in poor soil, which is why it turns up in the best cottage and coastal gardens in the country.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers month after month. In mild climates it is rarely out of bloom, and even in cold districts the display runs the length of the warm seasons.
• It spills beautifully. Over retaining walls, down steps, along path edges: wherever there is a hard line, it softens it.
• Thrives on neglect. Poor soil, heat, salt wind and dry spells are all shrugged off once it is established.
• Feeds the pollinators. Bees and butterflies work the little daisies constantly, which earns it a place near any vegie bed.
• Pet friendly and fast. It is not toxic to cats or dogs, and it covers ground quickly from a small plant.

Where it works best

Retaining walls and slopes. This is its signature move. Planted at the top of a wall it cascades in a curtain of flowers, and on a bank it knits cover fast.

Groundcover and edging. Set plants 40cm apart for a continuous low carpet, or run it as a soft border along paths and lawn edges.

Rockeries and coastal gardens. It seeds itself into crevices, copes with salt spray and flowers harder in the lean conditions rockeries provide.

An honest caution. It self seeds readily, popping up in paving cracks and gravel. In a garden that is charm; next to bushland it is a risk, so keep it for suburban plantings away from native reserves.

Growing Seaside Daisy in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun brings the heaviest flowering. It performs across subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean climates, and being frost hardy it returns each spring in cold gardens without protection.

Soil. Anything that drains, including poor sandy soil. Rich beds grow more leaf than flower, so do not improve the soil on its account.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then leave it to the weather in all but long dry spells. It needs no routine fertiliser; lean treatment keeps it compact and covered in bloom.

Pruning. Shear the whole plant back by half once or twice a year, whenever it starts looking tired. It regrows fresh and dense within weeks and flowers on the new growth.

What to expect when it arrives

Seaside Daisy comes as tube stock and in 140mm packs of 10, the pack being the practical way to edge a path or plant out a wall in one order. These are quick plants: tubes knit together within a warm season at 40cm spacing, and 140mm plants often arrive already in flower.

Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect them to settle within a week or two and get straight on with growing. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Seaside daisy growing guide
• Browse the groundcover range
• More plants for retaining walls
• Coastal and salt tolerant plants

Common questions

Will it take over the garden?

It self seeds readily, so expect volunteers in cracks and gravel. A shear once or twice a year and pulling the odd seedling keeps it well mannered, but do not plant it beside bushland.

How far apart should I plant it?

Forty centimetres apart for groundcover. At that spacing tubes join into a continuous mat within a warm season, faster from 140mm stock.

When should I cut it back?

Whenever it looks straggly, typically once or twice a year. Shear it back by half, water it once, and it rebuilds into a fresh flowering mound within a few weeks.

Does it cope right on the coast?

Yes. Salt wind and sandy soil are close to its ideal, and it flowers well in exposed beachside beds where fussier groundcovers scorch.

Western Australia: this plant is listed as an environmental weed in WA, where it escapes from gardens into bushland. We do not recommend it for WA gardens. Please choose a local alternative.