White Marguerite Daisy

White Marguerite Daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens 'White') is the plant for a front border that needs to look cared for without being fussed over. It forms a neat mound about 800mm tall and 800mm across, covered for months in white daisies with a yellow eye. Planted 50cm apart, the row closes into a solid band of flower in a single season.

Why you'll love it

• Months of flower, not weeks. The main show runs through spring into summer, and a light shear brings a second flush in autumn.
• It reaches full size fast. From a 140mm pot you have a finished mound within a season, so the border looks established this year.
• Built for exposed front gardens. Salt tolerant, wind tolerant and drought tolerant once away, so a windy street frontage does not shred it.
• It feeds the garden, and stays in scale. Open daisies are easy landing pads for bees and butterflies, and at under a metre either way it never swallows a path edge.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 50cm apart in a single row. Each mound reaches full width while the canopies just touch, so the line reads continuous without the centres going woody early.

Mass planting. Hold the same 50cm spacing across a bed. In a bank of nine or more the white reads as a single block of light.

Coastal gardens, small gardens and pots. Salt and wind tolerance make it a genuine beachside plant, and one plant fills a 300mm pot for a courtyard or a narrow driveway strip.

Growing white marguerite daisy in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, always. Shade gives leggy growth and half the flowers. It suits warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens and takes light frost only, so hard frosting inland districts should treat it as a seasonal planting. In humid subtropical gardens it tends to rot through a wet summer.

Soil. Free draining above all else. Sandy and average soils suit it, but wet clay will kill it, so raise the bed and work coarse compost through first.

Water and feed. Water twice weekly for the first six weeks, then only through dry spells. A complete slow release fertiliser in early spring and after the first shear keeps it flowering hard.

Pruning. This is the job that matters. Shear the whole plant back by about a third as each flush finishes, before it sets seed. Skip it and the centre opens into bare wood, and old bare wood does not reshoot.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in two sizes: tube stock, and 140mm pots sold in packs of ten. Both arrive as young plants rather than the finished mounds you see in a display garden, though the 140mm plants often carry a few buds. For a border of any length the pack of ten is the sensible unit, since 50cm spacing eats plants quickly.

Soft growth like this can look tired after a few days in a box, so water it in on arrival and pinch off any flowers to push energy into roots. Expect it to fill out within eight to twelve weeks. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare the wider flowering plants range
• Coastal and salt tolerant plants
• Plants for mass planting
• Low maintenance shrubs for Australian gardens

Common questions

How many do I need per metre of border?

Two plants per metre at 50cm spacing. A pack of ten covers a five metre single row, or roughly two square metres if you stagger them in a double row.

How long does it live?

Three to five years is realistic. It is a fast, generous shrub rather than a permanent one, and it lasts longest if you shear it after every flush.

Is it safe for cats and dogs?

It belongs to the same family as chrysanthemums, which are toxic to pets, so we do not list it as pet friendly. Keep it out of a bed your dog grazes in.

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.