Roaming Roy loves this time of year. It is a time when the Australian bush is putting on the last few displays of flowers, but when gardens still burst with a variety of natives. One of his favourites is the Australian Paper Daisy, which he often sees growing in peoples gardens and the bush at this time of year. These daisies are very popular and add a fabulous splash of colour to a garden, but Roy thinks they are also particularly good for children to grow as they make a wonderful floral display and are easy to grow.
The paper daisies which Roy is admiring in these photos were found in one of the places which Roy likes to stay at in Bathurst. When we last visited, they were flowering spectacularly, and we were lucky enough to be given a big bunch to take home, dry and collect the seeds from. The photo below shows what happens to paper daisies after they have been in a vase for a few days. They pop out all their little seeds which you can then plant into the garden. If you want to avoid a fluffy mess though, you might want to put them into a paper bag when they first show signs of 'exploding' - it's amazing how many seeds they have! Paper daisies are drought tolerant and can survive without much water, so they're perfect for the gardener who forgets to water their plants. You will also see paper daisies growing beside the road and through the bush, but remember not to collect them from the wild, leave them for others to enjoy.
Even before Australia had been discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, Australian daisies had been discovered and collected by Europeans. William Dampier collected the first specimens from Shark Bay in Western Australia in 1699, and they became very popular with gardeners and botanists alike. By the 1850s the paper daisy was being widely grown, in Europe, and had even been hybridised by German horticulturalists to create new varieties. Roy likes the yellow ones, but they also come in white and pink!
Those living in the colony of Australia far preferred to bring a touch of home to their gardens with European style plantings, but overseas, Australian plants were popular. In fact, even Josephine, Napoleans wife, grew about 100 different Australian plants in her gardens outside Paris! It wasn't really until the early 20th century that native plants began to be more widely appreciated in Australia, amongst them of course being the paper daisy itself. The paper daisy was particularly popular because it was easy to grow and propagate, and it remains popular today. In fact, the paper daisy displays are some of the most popular at the Sydney Botanic Gardens.
