Daisy-like Flowers To Grow In Ornamental Gardens

Last Updated on April 12, 2024 by Real Men Sow

Daisies are one of the most well-known flowers. They are a symbol of innocence and simplicity, but they also have a disarming beauty. These flowers are great in borders, flower beds and cottage gardens. They are loved by children and grown-ups love them.

Signature Features Of A Daisy Flower

A daisy flower’s shape is composed of a central disc and petals or rays around it. This shape is common in Asteraceae flowers, which are true daisies like marigolds and coneflowers. Other plants have the same shape, but they aren’t daisies like ice plants.

20 Daisy-like Flowers You Should Start Growing

Chocolate Daisy (Berlandiera Lyrata)

The chocolate daisy has 8 ray-like petals of the most vibrant and vigorous yellow you can think of. Although the inner disk has tiny flowers that are green when closed they turn to maroon-red beauties when opened. These flowers are quite large and easily visible. They also have a large yellow anther in the middle.

Two filaments are located at the base of the rays, one of which is maroon red. The whole is enclosed by a disc of intersecting green leaves below the flower. The chocolate daisies are also great bloomers! It will bloom from late spring through fall. You will enjoy a steady supply of Sun-looking daisies throughout your borders, wild prairies, and beds for many months.

Hardiness: The USDA zones 4-10 are the best USDA zones for chocolate daisies.

Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 1 to 2 feet high to spread out (30-60 cm).
Soil requirements: Loam or sandy loam that is well-drained, with a pH of slightly alkaline to slightly acidic. It can withstand drought and will also grow in rocky soil.

Tickseed (Coreopsis Verticillata)

Tickseed is a hardy perennial that will produce showy flowers. The flower also has 8 ray petals, and they are large and showy. The disk is typically a close match to the rays and relatively small in size. This plant’s many flowers are found on long, thin stems and in large numbers. It is ideal for bordering areas that need some color. You have many options for color choices, as they will continue to bloom throughout the summer.

Hardiness: Tickseed can be grown in USDA zones 5-9; Ruby Frost is hardy in USDA zones 6-10.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure

Size: From 1 to 2 feet high (30 to 60 cm), to 2 to 3 feet spread (60-60 cm)
Soil requirements: Loam, chalk, or sandy loam are the best soil types. It can withstand drought and will tolerate rocky soil.

Seaside Daisy (Erigeron Glaucus)

Few flowers are better than seaside daisies for rock gardens, particularly on the coast, or to bring gravel gardens back to life. This perennial is short and will grow small bushes with leathery green leaves that bloom from mid-spring to late summer. It also bears many yellow disc yellow flowers, which are a lovely combination of lavender pink flowers and purple berries.

They are the classic many-petal daisy shape. However, the color is very striking and reminds one of succulent flowers. This plant is low-maintenance and attracts butterflies to your yard. It can also fit easily in containers and pots.

Hardiness: The seaside daisy can be grown in USDA zones 5 through 8.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade

Size: 6-12 inches high (15-30 cm) and 1-2 feet wide (30-60 cm).
Soil requirements: Loam, chalk, or sandy loam should be well-drained. The pH ranges from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. It is resistant to drought.

Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium Leucanthum)

Blackfoot daisy is a great daisy for dry gardens. It has been a favorite of xeriscaping, or “dry gardening”. This perennial is sturdy and can be used in any rock garden, gravel or prairie where water is scarce. It has contrasting white flowers and dark, fuzzy leaves.

The blackfoot daisy ray petals are quite large and special because they have a notch in the middle at the end that almost gives them heart-shaped tips. Blackfoot daisies can also be a persistent bloomer. It will continue to produce flowers from spring through fall. They will add a sweet scent to their color.

Hardiness: The blackfoot daisy can be grown in USDA zones 6-10.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade

Size: 6-12 inches high (15-30 cm) and 1-2 feet wide (30-60 cm).
Soil requirements: Sandy soil or chalk that is well-drained. It is resistant to drought.

Compass Plant (Silphium Laciniatum)

This sturdy perennial is the best choice if you want your garden natural and even rough. It looks more like wild chicory (Cichorium Intybus), with tall stems that bear alternate flowers higher than the small shrub at its base.

The lower leaves are segmented, which adds to the beauty of the flowers. In fact, its petals often twist and bend as if to express passion and pain with their yellow energy. It is easy to naturalize and suitable for wild prairies or meadows.

Hardiness: The compass plant can withstand USDA zones 5 through 9.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure

Size: From 5 to 9 feet high (1.5 to 2.5 meters) to 2 to 3 feet spread (60 cm to 90 cm).
Soil requirements: Loam or clay that is well-drained, with pH between alkaline and neutral. It is resistant to drought.

Painted Daisy (Tenacetum Coccineum)

It actually has petals in strong colors of bright pink, red and purple as well as white. The yellow central disk adds contrast and light to the almost unbelievable colors of the Ray petals. The most striking shade with this flower is dark magenta. I can only describe it as either “electrical” or “almost fluorescent”. This flower is great for loose sandy gardens. It also makes great borders with the sea.

Hardiness: The painted daisy can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 7.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade
Size: 1 to 2 feet high (60 to 90cm) and 1 to 2-feet wide (30 to 60cm).

Soil requirements: Sandy soil that is well-drained and can withstand drought. The pH can range from slightly acidic or slightly alkaline.

Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia Rotundifolia)

Mexican sunflowers are large, showy, deep orange flowers with a golden center. They can grow to 3 inches (7 cm) across. The flowers have broad, thin petals with pointed tips that eventually turn downwards as they mature.

This flower’s name is a promise. It will bring Mexican summer’s warmth and bright light to your borders and beds from summer to autumn, as well as butterflies and hummingbirds galore! This is a large, robust plant that will be a focal point in your garden.

Hardiness: The Mexican sunflower, despite its name, is extremely cold-hardy to USDA zones 2 through 11.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 4 to 6 feet high (1.2 to 1.5 meters) to 2 to 3 feet spread (60 cm to 90 cm).

Soil requirements: Well-drained loam or sandy loam with a pH between slightly acidic and slightly alkaline soil. It is resistant to drought.

Butter Daisy (Verbesina Encelioides)

The butter daisy flower is delicate and can create a sophisticated effect on your borders and beds. This plant has subtle characteristics. The leaves have a pastel aquamarine hue with silvery accents. The many flowers are delicately attached to a banana yellow disk by a thin layer of pale butter yellow rays.

They look somewhat like silk strips, but they are only barely connected at the center. The petals then widen and become dented at the ends. They look like large, pastel-colored leaves layered on top of a sea of large, watercolor-colored leaves. Butter daisy, despite this being said, is a fast-growing plant that can bloom from mid-spring to the first frost.

Hardiness: Butter daisy can be hardy in USDA zones 2 through 11.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 2 to 5 feet high (60 to 150cm) to 2 to 3 feet spread (60-60cm).

Soil requirements: It doesn’t need to be fertile. It is very drought-tolerant.

Engelmann Daisy (Engelmannia Peristenia)

Engelmann daisy is delicate and lively in appearance. It has branched stems that have several flowers per stem, as well as richly textured fuzzy leaves with segmented foliage. This perennial has small, round flowers with tiny central disks. The rays are long and the petals are almost rhomboid. It is both unique and elegant, as it looks like a daisy flower.

This is a great choice for bordering areas that require more foliage and brighter flowers. It is a favorite of butterflies and they will visit the flowers throughout the blooming season which lasts from spring until the first frost. This flower is easy to grow and drought resistant. It’s perfect for xeric gardens.

Hardiness: Engelmann daisy can be grown in USDA zones 5-10.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade
Size: From 1 to 3 feet high (30 to 90 cm) to 1 to 2 feet spread (30-60 cm).

Soil requirements: soil that is well-drained. It is resistant to drought.

Daisy Bush (Olearia X Scilloniensis)

Daisy bush is a great way to make a big impact with just one daisy-like flower! This shrub is covered with white flowers from late spring through early summer. It’s so dense and thick that it will make you believe that it has snowed!

It has a round, compact habit. The shrub is an evergreen so once the huge blooms have gone, you’ll still have the lovely foliage. It has a fine texture and small, bright green, linear leaves. Another great way to add fresh foliage, stricture, and flowers to your coastal or seaside xeric garden is to use this as a border, hedge, or standalone shrub.

Hardiness: The daisy bush can be grown in USDA zones 8-10
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 4 to 6 feet high to spread out to 1.2 to 1.8 meters.

Soil requirements: Bush daisy does not require a lot of soil. It needs well-drained soil, including loam, clay, clay, or sandy. The pH should be between slightly alkaline and slightly acidic. It is resistant to drought and salt.

Trailing Ice Plant (Lampranthus Spectabilis)

Although not a daisy, the trailing ice plant is very daisy-like and a flowering succulent with bright magenta blooms… lots of them! This stunning evergreen has long, needle-like or chalk stick-like leaves that burst with beautiful blooms twice a year: once in winter and one in spring.

These flowers are large and showy (2 in. or 5 cm) and they have the same shiny appearance as succulent flowers. It is a sprawling, beautiful plant that can be used to enrich borders, rock gardens, and wild prairies, even in harsh environments like coastal gardens or xeric ones.

Hardiness: The USDA Zones 8-10 are where the trailing ice plant can be grown.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: 6-12 inches high (15-30 cm) and 1-2 feet wide (30-60 cm).

Soil requirements: Loam or sandy loam should be well-drained, with a pH of slightly acidic to slightly acidic, but preferably on the acidic side. It is resistant to drought and salt and can grow well in pots and rocky soil.

Leopard Plant ‘The Rocket’ (Ligularia Przewalskii ‘The Rocket’)

Mother Nature has created a new daisy flower shape with the award-winning leopard plant. It features long, upright spikes that bear numerous bright yellow flowers. The base also has large heart-shaped leaves. The flowers will be available in summer on long, dark stems.

This gives the plant an architectural dimension that allows you to add a bold and proud presence to your beds or borders while still enjoying the daisy shape. Leopard plants are at their best next to streams and ponds.

Hardiness: The leopard plant ‘The Rocket’ is hardy in USDA zones 4-8
Sun Exposure: Full Sun, partial shade, or complete shade.
Size: 3 to 5 ft tall (90 to 150 cm), and 2 to 4 ft spread (60-60 cm).

Soil requirements: This plant can tolerate poor soil drainage. It prefers loam and clay with a pH between slightly acidic and fairly alkaline. It can tolerate damp soil.

Mexican Flame Vine (Senecio Confusus)

You would not have expected a daisy-like plant to grow on a large-leafed vine. There is a Mexican flame vine that looks a lot like a daisy but is quite unusual. It boasts ray petals in the most vibrant orange and copper-to-gold disks that appear fluffy. It blooms from late spring through fall.

However, this is where the similarities with other daisies end… It isn’t a small shrub or plant. Instead, it’s a large evergreen vine with large, fleshy, heart-shaped leaves. This daisy looks great in pergolas, trellises, and patios even though it isn’t very dry.

Hardiness: The Mexican flame vine can be grown in USDA zones 9 through 13.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 6 to 12 feet high (1.8 to 3.0 meters) to 3 to 6 feet wide (0.9 to 1.18 meters).

Soil requirements: Loamy or sandy loam that is well-drained with pH between slightly acidic and slightly alkaline. It is resistant to drought.

Ice Plant (Delosperma Spp.)

This brightly colored succulent is not technically a daisy, but it is part of the Asteraceae family. The Ice plant is a showy flowering plant with many long, shiny petals. The plants are small, but the flowers are large, measuring approximately 2 inches (5 cm) across. The blooming season begins in late spring and ends at the end of fall.

Hardiness: Ice plants can withstand USDA zones 6-10

Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 4 to 6 inches tall (to 16 cm to 30 cm) to 1 to 2 feet spread (to 60 cm to 60 cm).
Soil requirements: Well drained, sandy loam or light loam. It can tolerate pH levels from slightly acidic to slightly acidic, but prefers acidic. It can withstand drought and thrives in rocky soil.

Cornflower (Centaurea Cyanus)

Although its rays might seem confusing because they contain many small flowers with many pointed petals, rather than one long and single, it is part of the Asteraceae family.

It is a cornfield favorite and is well-known for its deep blue color. However, it is rare to see in the wild because of weed killers. It is now a popular choice for wild meadows, borders and hedges in gardens around the globe. It blooms late spring through late fall and attracts lots of butterflies as well as pollinators.

Hardiness: Cornflower can be grown in USDA zones 2 through 11.

Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: From 1 to 3 feet high (30 to 90 cm), to 6 to 12 inches spread (15 to 30cm).
Soil requirements: Loamy or sandy loam that is well-drained. The pH should be between neutral and fairly alkaline (6.6 to 7.5). It is resistant to drought.

Marigold (Calendula Officinalis)

Marigold is a common daisy variety that can grow in colder climates. Its ability to bloom from late spring through the first frost is what makes it so popular with gardeners. This showy, beautiful flower will brighten up your borders, containers and pots with bright yellow or bright orange.

There are many varieties available on the market. Some are single and some are double. However, singles are more attractive for their scent and attract butterflies.

Hardiness: Marigold can withstand cold temperatures, USDA zones 2 through 11.

Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade
Size: From 1 to 2 feet high to spread out (30-60 cm).
Soil requirements: Likes sandy soil, chalk and loam that are well-drained. It can range from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline in pH.

Aster (Aster Spp.)

Without mentioning aster, we can’t talk about daisies. This perennial with a generous flowering habit will fill your borders, containers and beds with beautiful flowers all summer and fall. It also attracts lots of bees. It is easy to grow, sturdy, and hardy making it ideal for mild climates. Although it comes in many colors people love its purple-to-blue and pink range.

Hardiness: Aster can be grown in USDA zones 4-8
Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade

Size: They can grow to a maximum height of 3-4 feet (90-120 cm) and spread to a width of 1-2 feet (30-60 cm). There are also smaller varieties.
Soil requirements: Asters love well-drained soil in almost all compositions, including loam, chalk and clay. They can tolerate high clay and will adapt to alkaline or slightly acidic soils.

African Daisies (Osteospermum Spp.)

African daisies are a variation of the daisy shape, which is a classic flower shape. Their long, brightly colored rays bring the African continent to life. These daisies are also larger and more colorful, with ray petals that are well placed. On the other hand, the disks are usually smaller than other daisies and of a darker color.

Hardiness: African daisies can withstand USDA zones 10 through 11.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure
Size: Many African daisies can be as small as 1 foot in height (30 cm) and spread (30 cm); others may be up to 2 feet (60cm).

Soil requirements: Well-drained loam, chalk, or sandy soil. The pH should be between neutral and fairly alkaline. They are resistant to drought.

Gerbera Daisies (Gerbera Spp.)

The bright pastel colors of Gerbera daisies make them a popular choice for bouquets. However, they also have a large and showy appearance. These flowers can actually reach 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter, making them one of the largest daisies that you can grow. They are commonly used as cut flowers but can also be used in borders, containers, and beds. They are great for urban and courtyard gardens.

Hardiness: Gerbera daisies can be grown in USDA zones 9-10.

Sun Exposure: Full Sun or partial shade
Size: Usually, size is within 1 foot (30 cm) and 2 to 3 feet spread (60 cm).
Soil requirements: Loamy, chalk, or sandy soil that is well-drained with a pH of slightly acidic to slightly alkaline.

Coneflowers (Echinacea Spp.)

Coneflowers are gaining popularity due to their healing properties and their beautiful colors. These are daisies. However, the disk is not flat but instead has the shape of a cone. They are beautiful in wild prairies and cottage gardens, but also look great in borders and beds.

Hardiness: Coneflowers can be hardy in USDA zones 4-10.
Sun Exposure: Full Sun exposure with light exposure

Size: They can grow up to 2 to 3 feet high (60 to 90cm) and spread out to 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60cm).
Soil requirements: They will tolerate sandy, loam, or chalky soils that are well-drained. Their pH ranges from slightly acidic to slightly neutral. They can withstand drought and heavy clays and rocky soil.