Gerber Daises

 "What ever a man's age, he can reduce it several years by putting a bright colored flower in his button hole " Mark Twain

Barberton Daisy



Mutgation

 I have always loved the Gerber Daisy. In fact I love all Daises.  Not only do they stand for innocence and purity, but  nothing can cheer you up like a bouquet of pretty bright Gerber Daises. We have two great men to thank for the daisy we have today. In 1884 Scotsman Robert Jameson found the Barberton Daisy. German botanist and naturalist Traugott Gerber worked hard to give us what we have today.  While working on the Gerber Daisy  one was a mutation, an inherited physical or biochemical change in genetic material.



Homestead Verbena

  I sure would like to have some like that.  Gerber Daisy, African Daisy, or Gerbera jamesonii no matter what you call it, it is a beautiful flower.  I told you that I was learning by trial and error.  Before I moved here I lived in Jonesboro, La. I bought about 8 Gerber daises everyone died.  They would sort of wilt and I would water, wrong thing to do.  They like well drained soil.  In Jonesboro we had clay soil, I mixed compost in the beds when we made them and when I planted. I had no idea why my Gerber Daises died.  I did not buy any more for a while.   Last year I told my friend Liz at Selman's Nursery I loved Gerber daisies, but I just could not raise them.  Then she told me they may not have had good drainage.  I bought 2 plants,  planted them in a bed that is 3 timbers high, drainage is good.  Watered them about every 4 to 5 days. The Daisies I bought last year did great, they came back and are blooming now.  I bought 6 pink, 6 red and 9 yellow Gerber daisies. I went to 3 nurseries bought all of those colors they had.   In the 2 pots in the middle I planted 2 purple Homestead Verbena.  I needed two more Daises so I planted 2  Verbena on the back side  instead.  There are 2 beds around these pine trees 8ft long and 4 ft wide end to end.   I have a lavender Butterfly Bush in the middle of the first bed.  A Moon Trumpet fills  the middle of bed number two. It always blooms at night ,but the bloom stayed on the plant all day today.  I have never seen one bloom later than 11:00 AM.   Hope you enjoyed this blog page about Gerber daisy.  Hope you will continue to watch my garden grow and grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me.  Juanita

                                                                                                                 Juanita