Park Seed Garden Journal

African Daisies are fantastic flowers.  They bloom profusely over a long season, they're easy to care for and will tolerate quite a bit of mistreatment, and over the last 25 years or so they've become extremely popular, especially as bedding plants.  The more common genus of African Daisies, Osteospermum, is made up of perennials, but because they're native to Southern Africa, they're generally grown as annual flowers in most of the US.  Like many non-hardy perennials, though, African Daisies can be grown as a container plant and overwintered somewhere that is protected from the frost, and many Osteospermum enthusiasts swear by this method.  However, because they require a great deal of sunlight, it is unlikely that they would do very well as an indoor plant year-round.  I haven't yet tried this method with African Daisies (my overwintering space is limited), but I might give it a try this year.  I love the shape of Osteospermum flowers, especially those with semi-quilled petals, such as the African Daisy Flower Power Spider White Purple, an unwieldy name for a truly unique flower.  One of the great advantages to Osteospermum in our area is that they don't mind drying out, and our summers are drought-prone (especially over the last several years).  With the intense sun, we can easily go through a great deal of water trying to keep the soil moist in full-sun areas, and it's really convenient to have at least a bed or two that will stay great-looking throughout the summer without daily attention.

On a side note, I've always found the name Osteospermum interesting, as it is a combination of both Greek and Latin.  It means "bone-seed," from the Greek "Osteo," for bone, and "spermum," for seed.