Paper Daisy (Your Ultimate Growing Guide And So Much More!)
G’day green thumbs!
The humble Paper Daisy plant is also known as the Australian Paper Daisy or Everlasting Daisy.
They are delightful Australian Native plants and are low-maintenance to grow. Whilst there are a number of different species they will generally fall under two categories.
The two categories are annuals and short-lived perennials (sometimes called strawflower or golden everlasting). Both types will be a colorful, welcome addition to your garden.
We have been growing paper daisies for 7 years! Every year we collect our paper daisy seeds and grow them again. We also gift our paper daisy seed to family and friends so that they can grow them too!
Paper daisies or pink everlasting daisies are sentimental to us. We still have our first ever paper daisy bloom pressed in a frame and we also used them as our natural dried flower confetti at our wedding.
So, when it comes to growing everlastings, harvesting the seed and overcoming any paper daisy pests, trust us. We know what we’re talking about.
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Daisy Flower Meaning
If you’re thinking about growing paper daisies in your garden you might be wondering what is the meaning of daisy flowers?
Paper Daisies are also known as Everlasting Daisies and there are many different species in Australia. They range in color from deep pinks, to vibrant yellows, whites and pale pinks.
The meaning of a daisy flower is ‘childhood, innocence and purity’. Everlasting Daisies are described as capturing that essence for all of eternity, your whole life. How sweet!
For us personally, paper daisies symbolize everlasting love. If you dry them, they last forever! And if you keep the seeds and gift them on, they are forever growing!
Where To Plant Paper Daisies
Paper Daisies like sandy, well draining soil. They naturally grow in meadow-like clusters in rocky or sandy ground.
We turn our soil over to loosen it up, and we add sand to the patches where we plant our paper daisies. We plant ours in the ground but you can also plant them in raised garden beds with loose compost, sand and gypsum. You can add slow release fertilizer for natives if you wish but we find we don’t need to.
Paper daisies like a sunny position. Full sun is fine. This will help them to reach their height of approximately 50cm and open into beautiful blooms.
How To Prepare Your Soil
You can help give your paper daisies the best start by doing the following to prepare your soil.
- Remove all weeds
- Lightly turn the soil over with a fork or rake
- If your soil is clay-like you can improve drainage by incorporating sand, gypsum and loose compost into it
- Wet the soil prior to planting
- If you’re using a raised garden bed, fill with loose, well-draining compost or garden-mix
Planting Your Paper Daisy Seed
It’s now time to plant your paper daisy seed! We collect ours each year and store them for planting time.
So for us, we let the kids mix the collected seeds with plain sand. We do this to help weigh down the seed a bit as it’s all very light and can fly away or blow away in the wind.
It also makes it easier for the kids to grab handfuls of the sand and seed mix and scatter it in our ‘meadow-like’ areas.
If you’ve bought seed from a store it will be ready to go! But you can also mix them with some sand or loose potting mix if you want to easily grab handfuls like us.
We then just loosely scatter the mix over your prepared area with a fairly even consistency. This does not need to be perfect by any means! Our three year old does it.
Caring For Your Paper Daisy Plants
We give our paper daisy seeds a light watering in. This helps them stay on the ground and not blow away and kickstarts the germination process.
Usually after about a week we will give them another good water. After that they only need watering weekly to fortnightly depending on your climate.
We are in the South West, Western Australia and less approximately weekly is fine.
Your paper daisy plants will grow quite quickly in well-draining soil and full sun.
You can help them along with a liquid fertilizer every few weeks once they reach about 10-15cm in height. (We like Seasol which is available at Bunnings). However we generally find this is not necessary.
Enjoying The Blooms
It’s time to reap the rewards for your efforts! Paper Daisy flowers are just so bright and beautiful when they start to bloom.
They are almost theatrical to watch because you can see them open up in the sunshine before your very eyes!
They also quickly close if raindrops appear or it gets dark. The kids love spraying them with a little bit of water and watching them close and open again.
The colors are so vibrant in their first couple weeks of blooming. If you want to save any for cut or dried flowers its best to harvest them while they are vibrant as they do fade over time with the sun.
If you do harvest any you’ll find the crop regenerates. Amazing! However the second round of flowers are usually smaller in size.
If you take some for cut-flowers you can strip the foliage in the garden bed as it will break down.
Simply place them in a vase with water and replace the water often to encourage longevity of your blooms.
Remove flowers that start to droop and you’ll find some that last as long as a month. How wonderful!
Paper Daisy Pest And Disease
Paper Daisies are generally easy to grow, resilient and have very few pest and disease problems; however here are a few you may encounter and how to overcome them.
- Snails and Slugs – Gah, if you’ve got snails or slugs, they can be a problem. We are lucky not to have them in our garden but if you do have these pesky little critters you can use eco pellets like this which are an organic snail and slug killer.
- Powdery mildew – This yucky disease will present as a powdery white and gray surface to foliage in your garden. If you do come across it you can use an eco-fungicide. You may also notice ladybugs on the affected foliage, leave them as they are trying to fight the disease and an eco-fungicide will not harm them.
- Aphids – It is unlikely that your paper daisies will be affected by aphids but if they are you might notice stickiness to the foliage or yellowing of the stalk and leaves. We find the most effective and harmless way to treat aphids is with Neem-Oil. Neem-Oil is non-toxic to animals and insects that may come into contact with it.
Saving Your Paper Daisy Seed
Every season as our Everlasting Daisy meadow starts to near the end of its cycle, we let it go to seed.
This means you leave the head of the flower on the plant until the seeds are almost ready to disperse on their own. You’ll be able to identify this stage because the head will start to loosen up, losing its petals and you’ll visibly be able to see the seed.
Did you know, one flower can produce 100-200 seeds! You could gift them to all your friends and family!
When the flowers have gone to seed we usually just take the whole flower head and pop it in a paper bag to dry out. Sure, it’s a bit messy but we find this captures the most seed.
You should always use a bag that will allow moisture to escape, so organic cloth or paper.
Our children help us to collect the seed and bag it up for gifts! How wonderfully rewarding for them to have ownership over the garden.
How To Dry Paper Daisies
So perhaps you want to enjoy your vibrant, colored paper daisies for years to come? This is totally possible!
Everlasting daisies make wonderful dried bunches, retaining their color and light, snowflake-like texture indefinitely.
It is important to pick them at the right time. You want the plant to be fully developed however not leave it long enough that the color starts to fade.
- Pick your everlastings in the middle of a dry, sunny day so that they are opened right up.
- Allow enough length on the stem so that you can tie and hang them, generally around 30cm
- Strip the foliage from the stems
- Tie the stems approximately ⅓ of the way up (10cm) or secure with an elastic band.
- Hang upside down in a cool, dry place like a shed or pantry.
- Leave untouched until completely dry (approximately three weeks).
- Use in bunches around your home or separate to add to dried flower arrangements.
FAQ’s
Can Rabbits Eat Daisies?
Yes, they can. Rabbits love to eat daisies! So if you have bunnies that venture into your garden you might want to use a raised garden bed so you don’t lose them to the cheeky bunnies.
If you have a pet rabbit that’s eaten daisies, don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe for your rabbit to eat daisies especially if you’ve only used organic products and no pesticides.
Can Hamsters Eat Daisies
Yes, again it’s perfectly safe for Hamsters to eat daisies if you’ve only used organic products in your soil and on your plants.
Daisies generally grow to 50cm tall so you’ll probably find your hamster won’t have too much of a detrimental affect on your crop even if they do take a liking to the taste of your daisies.
Are Paper Daisies An Australian Wildflower?
Yes, the Australian Paper Daisy is a native flower that especially likes to bloom amongst the spring wildflowers in Western Australia.
You’ll see paper daisies by the million on the Western Australian wildflower trail. The blooms are generally at their best from the end of August through to November and are truly a wonderful sight to behold.
However you can grow them almost anywhere in Australia and seeds are readily available. So you don’t have to travel to the North West of Western Australia to enjoy them.
So there you have it folks! One of our favorite flowers to grow in our garden is the humble paper daisy.
It gives us immense joy because it’s a special flower to our family and to my husband and I.
For us it symbolizes everlasting love and we are reminded of that with every crop and every time we share our everlasting seeds as gifts.
We find it’s a wonderful flower to grow with children as they can be ‘hands on’ every step of the way.
Our children help us collect the seed, gift the seed, plant the seed and they also enjoy interacting with the flowers as they bloom.
Everlasting Daisies are a low-maintenance, easy care flower to grow and it is truly rewarding to see the vibrant color and beauty in each plant.
We can’t wait to see yours! Share your pics with us on instagram @kidsthatdig
So, Let’s Get Digging!