DIMORPHOTHECA . Cape-marigold (African-orange daisy), Annual Flower Information

DIMORPHOTHECA . Cape-marigold
(African-orange daisy)
(Namaqualand-daisy)
(Star-of-the-veldt)

(Name Greek for two-formed achenes)

The blossoms are, as indicated by one of its common names, orange Daisies but in some forms the colors are very light, grading through salmon to white. The flowers are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and have a darker band of color about the central disk from which the ray florets curve upward. The plants are rather dwarf, growing but 12 to 15 inches high. The name of this annual, Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, is surely difficult to pronounce and has no doubt been a handicap to its culture. The various colored varieties have resulted by crossing D. aurantiaca and D. pluvialis.

An Egyptian species, D. ecklonis, is white with a bluish center. It has been recommended that this species be taken up at the end of Summer and potted. In a greenhouse they will flower freely in late Winter. It is a splendid cut flower.

UTILIZE. The flowers may be cut for use in bowls, but close in the evening. In the garden each plant is a mat of color all season.

GENERAL. These plants like sunshine, and as they bloom when quite young there is little advantage in starting them before they can be sown out in the open border, although they bloom 6 weeks after sowing. Sow them outside in April. Thin the plants to stand a foot to 18 inches apart. The plants are inclined to bloom too freely, thereby exhausting themselves.