If you like perennials with daisy-like flowers, you will love the yellow bush daisy or Euryops pectinatus. This African native is a Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ recommended plant due to its hardiness and low-maintenance. You will adore this easy-to-care-for plant!

The yellow bush daisy (Euryops pectinatus) is very similar to Gamolepis chrysanthemoides or African Bush Daisy, but has replaced it due to superior flowering and compact growth. The yellow bush daisy is hardy in our area and does best in full sun locations. The dark-green feathery, fern-like foliage makes an excellent backdrop for the bright yellow flowers. These plants flower year-round and can grow two-feet tall and three feet wide over time making it a mid-sized groundcover of sorts. The yellow bush daisy is an excellent choice for mass planting with individual plants set at twenty-four inch intervals. In addition to mass planting, consider the bush daisy as a stand-alone specimen in rock gardens, in borders, as a container plant or to line foundations. Bush daisies are also known to attract butterflies and other pollinators.

Select a full sun sight for planting in average, but well-drained soil. Water to establish these perennials, and then as needed. A two to three inch mulch will help retain moisture and allow this drought-tolerant plant to thrive. The bush daisy can sometimes develop yellow foliage due to lack of iron In our alkaline soils. You can correct this with a chelated iron foliar nutrient spray being careful as this material will stain concrete and stonework.

While bush daisies technically can flower year-round, cold weather and freezes may damage some of the foliage and reduce the flowering during the winter. Any damaged/dead foliage can be pruned out in the spring and re-sprouting will occur fairly rapidly. Bush daisies propagate easily by seed – you may even find that seeds have dropped and sprouted around the mother plant as volunteers.

Yellow bush daisies are readily available at all local garden centers. A pot or two of yellow bush daisies makes a nice gift for both your favorite gardener and yourself! For more information on all types of flowering perennials suitable for our area, please call our Master Gardener volunteers on the Plant Lifeline on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 4 pm at 764-4340 for gardening help and insight into their role as an Extension volunteer. Don’t forget to visit our other County Plant Clinics in the area. Please check this link for a complete list of site locations, dates and times – https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/charlotteco/files/2018/03/Plant-Clinics-Schedule.pdf. Ralph E. Mitchell is the Director/Horticulture Agent for the Charlotte County Extension Service. He can be reached at 941-764-4344 or ralph.mitchell@charlottecountyfl.gov.

Resources:
Bush Daisy (2019) Gardening Solutions- UF/IFAS Extension.
Gilman, E. F. & Landrum, L. (2014) Gamolepis chrysanthemoides African Bush Daisy. The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS.
Warner, K. (2017) Q: I have some bush daisy plants and right now they are looking pretty sad. Can I prune them now? The University of Florida Extension Service, IFAS – Nassau County
Dyer, M. H. (2018) Yellow Bush Daisy Problems. SFGate. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/yellow-bush-daisy-problems-59966.html
The Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Guide to Plant Selection & Landscape Design (2010) The University of Florida Extension Services, IFAS.

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