Daisies are a great favourite of mine, especially the Argyranthemum sold as ‘Jamaica Primrose’.
I introduced this excellent shrub (old-fashioned name Marguerite) to readers years ago and while it fell out of favour with the newer generation of gardeners, the horny-handed hang on to it for its prolific, non-stop blooming from late spring to early winter.
Dead-heading and a warm situation seem to be the only requirements it insists upon (the plant is rather tender in cold gardens).
‘Jamaica Primrose’ is a fast grower (and flowerer) especially in good soil and as such are great at filling gaps in the border.
The yellow blooms match very well the dark foliage of clump forming dahlias.
They are also good for accompanying the late blues which appear on two essential families, the Salvias and the lovely Aconitums.
The easiest salvia is still uliginosa, which has short spikes of sky-blue flowers but it has a habit of disappearing in the kind of winter we experienced during 2009/10.
