Daisy, daisy....

I first really noticed Oxeye Daisies in the Dordogne village hedgerows many years ago. It must have been a good summer and they were prolific, heads the size of saucers and stunning sunshine centres with dazzling white surrounds. I took a few hundred photos which are now quite boring but I never tire of seeing the flowers in gardens and hedgerows. Planted a lot in the garden but this year the rain has blighted them. This is the best I could find this morning though I expect some healthier examples when the sun arrives. Ha!


For those who care...
The Oxeye Daisy is a tall, very common species, and is an extremely popular species of wild flower landscaping schemes. The flower head produced on the end of each stem is very akin to a common lawn daisy except around 5 or 10 times bigger.

The plant needs full sunlight, dry conditions and grows mainly in calcareous or neutral grasslands, while occasionally appearing in some heaths. The plant is very common on disturbed soils or banks, especially quarries and wastelands, in meadows and abandoned pastures. Ox-eye Daisy is found in pHs of 5 to 8 and in soils of low to moderate fertility.

The plant is a short lived perennial (approx. 5 years) and needs bare earth or disturbed sites for the population to sustain itself through second generation propagation.