LIVINGSTONE DASIES

One of the easiest summer plants to grow yourself from seed is the livingstone daisy. They are untidy plants at the best of times but are very tolerant of all weathers except frost. The plant originally comes from Africa around the South African Cape. The plant is a succulent and is normally grown as an annual. The flowers are shades of pink, salmon, orange, magenta, pink, yellow and red. The former name for the plant was Mesembryanthemum-, which was from the Greek words mesembria, meaning midday and anthemon, meaning flower. If you are familiar with the plant you will know that the flowers close up in the afternoon so the name was appropriate. The name was changed recently to “Dorothy’s flower” in honour of a German expert on succulents the full name ids now Dorotheanus bellidiformis, the latter name meaning “daisy shaped”. If you get the seed then plant them in a sunny spot or the flowers will never open!

Horticultural.