Re: Swan River Daisy
dave-poole@ilsham.demon.co.uk wrote:
>
> > There's alot of hybridizing and selecting going on with this genus
> >in the trade today. Of course, the named selections are patented. But I
> >think we'll see alot of them this year in the nurseries here. A great
> >plant, blooms almost all year as it scrambles around between other
> >plants or spills out of containers.
>
> We've been seeing quite a few hybrids in recent years - a pink form
> -' Strawberry ' being especially attractive, but there are several
> good creamy yellows as well. Personally I prefer the 'ordinary'
> Brachyscome iberidifolia - its fine foliage and bright blue daisies
> are especially attractive. With me it is quite hardy and runs about,
> rooting as it goes, forming little colonies some distance from the
> main plant. Eventually it becomes quite woody and is technically a
> 'sub-shrub' I suppose. Here it flowers from February to Christmas and
> is given an annual top dressing of leaf mould after being heavily
> sheared back in early spring.
>
Dave, I am puzzled by your reference to B iberedifolia followed by a
description of what is obviously a perennial plant. I had always
understood B iberidifolia to be the annual one and my Australian
wildflower Catalogue agrees with me.
I wonder if your plant could actually be the very fine and long lived
perenial Brachyscome multifida, which I have myself grown for many years
and can thoroughly recommend. It seems nearly impossible to root
cuttings, but easy to separate off natural layers, and even encourage
extra ones by judicious placement of stones. It appears quite unphased
by either dry or wet conditions as long as the soil is well-drained.
Apparently, it can occur naturally in pink and white forms also, but the
creamy yellow has been developed by breeding. I have tried one a couple
of times, but they seem to have a much shorter life than the blue,
seldom surviving their first winter.The white I have grown once, but it
seemed to have a rather greyish cast, like a poorly-washed garment, and
did nothing for me. The pinks can be nice, though.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
