Variety: White Shasta daisy
Leucanthemum × superbum
The white Shasta daisy usually refers to Leucanthemum × superbum, a perennial horticultural hybrid. It forms upright clumps about 60 to 120 cm tall, with green lance-shaped leaves and large flower heads of white petals around a yellow centre. Cultivars may be single, semi-double, or double.
It flowers mainly in summer and may continue into early autumn when spent heads are removed. It is a border and cut-flower plant, not a vegetable.
Shasta daisy was developed by American horticulturist Luther Burbank in the 1890s near Mount Shasta, California. He crossed several daisies to obtain large, white, resilient flowers. The resulting hybrid became widely cultivated. The name Leucanthemum means white flower; older garden classifications often placed these plants in Chrysanthemum.
This is not a food plant. Ingestion may cause mild toxicity and contact may cause dermatitis. Do not eat garden daisies based on a rough identification, since similar species differ in composition.
Cut flowers when the head is open and the yellow centre is still firm. Remove lower leaves and keep stems in clean water. Dry heads for decoration; double cultivars usually retain their shape better.
Pay special attention to: Aphid, thrips, leaf miner, slug, snail, powdery mildew, leaf spot, root rot.
Open flowers attract bees and hoverflies. Double flowers may provide less pollen and nectar than single flowers. The commercial name giant daisy can describe other plants, so retain the scientific name when identifying a specific selection.