African Daisies or osteopermum are not natives to Japan but are gardening and park favourites for the cheerful splashes of colour they provide.
Osteospermum
Composite(Asterace)
Cape Daisy
Species native to various parts of South Africa
- Species
- O. barbarae
- Native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa
- Spreading plant with magenta winter flowers. More tolerant of shade.
These easily grown plants can be upright and bushy, or more commonly, low and spreading. Some forms rapidly cover large areas and therefore make an effective large-scale ground cover. The plants prefer drier conditions, though respond to occasional water during te dry months. They perform best in dry air (dislike high humidity) and flower best when nights are cool. Their peak flowering is late winter into spring, with intermittent flowering throughout the year (more heavily along the cool coastside).
Selections can be very handsome and attractive. Can be easily increased by quick rooting cuttings. In large or difficult to reach plantings, clones can revert or produce seedlings of different form or color, which may need to be removed to maintain effect.
Lamium with African Daisies
Hybridization has been so extensive in the trade that only wild collected seed from a very reliable source can be expected to be true to species.
- Source: Mediterranean Garden Society
NATURE IN JAPAN 