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How to Grow Shasta Daisies: The Complete Shasta Daisy Flower Guide

Learn how to plant and grow shasta daisies, a classic perennial.

Botanical Name
Leucanthemum x superbum
Plant Type
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
White
Hardiness Zone
4
5
6
7
8
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies

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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Shasta Daisies

Catherine Boeckmann

The cheerful Shasta daisy is a classic perennial. It looks similar to the familiar roadside field daisy but has larger and more robust blooms. Here’s how to grow Shasta daisies in your garden!

About Shasta Daisies

A European native, Shasta daisies are now naturalized throughout North America. Like clockwork, these daisies return every spring or early summer and bloom until early fall. They can be aggressive growers, so if you don’t want them spreading, choose varieties that don’t produce viable seeds or remove flowers before they go to seed. Because they are capable of spreading and are non-native, consider keeping them contained in garden beds away from wild areas.

Shasta daisies tend to form clumps that are 2 to 3 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide. They bear all-white daisy petals, yellow disk florets, and contrasting glossy, dark green leaves. Shasta daisies are terrific as cut flowers, as their blooms can last a week or more in arrangements.

Black bees on the clover-heads drowsily clinging,
Where tall feathered grasses and buttercups sway;
And all through the fields a white sprinkle of daisies,
Open-eyed at the setting of day.
–A²ú²ú²¹&²Ô²ú²õ±è;°Â´Ç´Ç±ô²õ´Ç²Ô

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Planting

Grow daisies in full sun for the best blooms. 

Soil should be moderately fertile—too rich, and you’ll get more vegetation than flowers. The soil should also be moist but well-draining.

To improve soil fertility before planting, loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.

When to Plant Shasta Daisies

  • Sow seeds in containers in a cold frame in autumn or spring.
  • If you seed directly, expect blooms after one season’s growth the following spring.
  • If purchasing a plant in a container, plant in spring or early fall.

How to Plant Shasta Daisies

  • Space plants 1 to 2 feet apart. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the container.
  • When placing the plant in the hole, make sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
  • Fill around the root ball and firm the soil.
  • Water thoroughly.
  • Taller plants may need support/staking.

Growing

  • Water during the summer only if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. Daisies are generally tolerant of dry spells once they are established.
  • Every spring, apply some compost and mulch to help control weeds.
  • As flowers fade, deadhead to extend the blooming season.
  • After the first killing frost, cut stems back to an inch or two above the soil line. (See local frost dates.)

Dividing Daisies

To keep daisies blooming their best, plan to divide them every 2 to 3 years in early spring (before flowers appear) or in late summer or early fall (after flowers fade). Signs that a plant should be divided include:

  • Less-vigorous foliage growth
  • Smaller flowers or fewer flowers overall
  • Parts of the plant appear sparse or dead (especially the center of a clump)

How to Divide Daisies

  1. Use a spade or garden fork to loosen the soil around the plant, then gently remove it from the soil, doing your best to leave most roots intact.
  2. Brush or shake off soil from the roots. Then, using a sharp knife or pruning shears, divide the plant into two or more pieces, ensuring that each piece has at least a few stems and healthy-looking roots. Discard any diseased or damaged pieces.
  3. Replant the divisions as desired (spaced about 1-2 feet apart).

Types

  • ‘B±ð³¦°ì²â’ is a classic variety with large flowers that grows to about 3 feet tall.
  • ‘Cobham Gold’ is a popular variety with double flowerheads and a yellow disc carried atop 2-foot stems.
  • ‘Horace Reed’ is an elegant daisy with double white flowerheads and incurved disk florets.
  • ‘Snow Lady’ is a fast-growing, erect, bushy perennial that blooms the first year from seed and produces single white flowerheads in the summer.

Harvesting

  • Shasta daisies make for a lovely cut flower, lasting a week or more in arrangements.
Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom

Pests/Diseases

Daisies are generally low maintenance and disease resistant. However, the following may occasionally be troublesome:

Flowers
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË found each other. She leads digital content for the ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Patricia L Scamoffa (not verified)

5 years ago

much too big and very droopy since july, august. many, many blooms

Janet Pierce (not verified)

5 years 1 month ago

When is the best time to dig them up and transplant them

Anita Law (not verified)

5 years 2 months ago

Question not comment. Want to move daisy from under tree. September in Ohio. Will it survive? Help!!

Yes, early fall is a fine time to move things in the garden. Ideally, wait for a period of time when it will be overcast and cool so that the plant won’t be stressed or burnt by intense sunlight and high temperatures. Keep the plant watered in the days after transplanting if there isn’t sufficient rain. 

Susan Sicard (not verified)

5 years 2 months ago

I like to make new seeds from the flowers after they have died back, like from the blossom that I have dead headed. Can I use the center of the shasta daisy as new seeds to plant next year to make new plants from. If I just let the dead-headed blossom stay on the ground after I have cut it off, will it make a new plant from that dead head or should I bring it in and dry it out during the winter and replant just the dried seeds from each dead head in the spring? Will this work for other perennials like coneflowers, rudbeckias, other daisy-like flowers, calendulas, bachelor buttons, etc. I always try to make new plants from fruits and veggies that I buy or grow. What is the correct way to save poppy seeds in order to transplant them to another flower garden. Thanks for any answer I can get I have done this with marigolds and sunflowers and they reproduce very nicely.

Susan Sicard (not verified)

5 years 2 months ago

I live in Vt. in the northeast kingdom about 15 miles the canadian border.

Dave (not verified)

5 years 5 months ago

I just purchased a large 2 gal Shasta plant that is starting to look overcrowded. Is it possible to separate into 3 or 4 plants when replanting? It has a dozen blooms & numerous buds. I have good soil & irrigation.

Belated reply, but yes.
Long version: I split my overcrowded Shasta into 2 pots. They weren't very happy with me the first year thereafter, just produced greenery and no blooms (weather may also have contributed). After that they were fine. They really took off a couple years later when I took them out of pots and put them into the ground. Of course, they get much better sun there, which also helps.

Pat (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

I love daisies, but the best are 'Leucanthemum' (white mountain shasta Daisy). The plant maintains a shorter profile and flowers all season, well into fall. The others get too tall, fall over without support, and bloom a much shorter time. (But I still love them.)

Lynelle (not verified)

5 years 6 months ago

I have a number of clumps of shatas and theygrow really tall and fall over. I understand about staking them but I have read to pinch them at 6 inches. My question is, at 6 inches there are no stems. Do I just punch off a layer of leaves?