The Oxeye Daisy
Oxeye Daisies: Flowers are showy, making the plant a popular ornamental species. Leaves are sometimes used in salads (Howarth and Williams 1968). Tea made from the whole plant has diuretic and antispasmodic properties and is used to treat asthma and whooping cough (Holm et al. 1997).
They are classified as noxious weeds. Why? Here’s what the state of Washington say: Oxeye daisy aggressively invades fields, where it forms dense populations, thus decreasing plant species diversity. Oxeye daisy is a weed of 13 crops in 40 countries, causing particular problems in pastures. It invades crop land where it decreases crop yield.
I think they’re very pretty, they do have a tendency to take over if you don’t cut them down before they go to seed. One thing that’s nice about them is that they grow in areas where other things don’t. They’re very tolerant of poor soils and drought (they grow in my gravel driveway). I don’t pull them all out I leave some, the bugs seem to like them. I can see why they’re a noxious weed though, if you let them go to seed they’ll take over, which isn’t a bad thing if you don’t mind.
Do you have any noxious weeds you allow to grow in your gardens?
We love the daisies and often let them grow as well…in fact, we plant them too. I love how they can help hold a bank and basically take care of themselves.
The weed that cracks me up is goldenrod. We don’t plant it but the local Lowes and Home depot both sell goldenrod. It’s funny to see it for sale!
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to warren's comment
We have Ox-eyed Daisy in out garden and it grows wild in the “lawn”. Great butterfly attractor. we have lots of roadside invaded with it. If you look on my blog you can find lots of butterfly photos on daisies.
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to Randy's comment
The ox-eyed daisies showed up in my garden one year. I let them grow and cut them for flowers. I always think I cut off all the blooms, but they increase every year anyway. I let them grow in my no mans land under the eaves near my veggie garden. Nothing else grows well there since it never gets any water. They do. They are pretty so I let them live. They are slowly expanding in the area and right now look so pretty.
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to Daphne's comment
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I love oxeye daisy for their delicate grace. I also “allow” some yarrow and milkweed to grow in designated areas. I am very careful to deadhead so I won’t lose the friendship of my neighbors!
to Christine's comment
Oxe-eye daisy is classed as a noxious weed in Ontario, too. I respect the need for farmers to protect their crops — they feed us, after all. However, I’m a little less religious about these weeds, miles from any fields, in the middle of my urban garden. A neighbour down the street has a very pretty display of daisies right now. I let milkweed grow, for the Monarch butterflies. I’m also relaxed about wild fleabane and even dandelion flowers are pretty (their undisturbed seed heads, too).
The varieties of goldenrod that nurseries sell are bred to be much better behaved than our rampant Canada goldenrod — but after the first year, how can you tell which is which unless you put a fence around the cultivated form and say: Stay put!
.-= Helen at Toronto Gardens´s last blog ..Purple and gold: A garden =-.
to Helen at Toronto Gardens's comment
That is such a beautiful photograph. I cannot wait to have a proper garden with beds so flowers can self sow, mingle and grow where they want!
Claire
.-= Claire´s last blog ..X-Ray Flowers =-.
to Claire's comment
Dame’s rocket, Hesperis matronalis, blows in from the rural roadsides here, and I admit I don’t pull every last seedling but enjoy the show (and then reduce the population so it doesn’t fill every inch in coming years).
to Margaret Roach's comment
We live in a wooded area and have many wild/native plants/trees which have sprung up in our yard, including ox-eyes, goldenrod, butterfly weed, vervain, self-heal (aka: heal-all), french mulberry (aka: american beautyberry), mimosa trees, red buckeye, dwarf crested iris, dogwoods, redbuds, ferns, wild flox, horsemint, coneflowers, passion flower, ironweed, and others too numerous to mention, from tiny bluets to giant wooly mulleins. (www.hsv-life.com/house/landscape)
to Nelson Ford's comment
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