Daisy
Bellis perennis L.
Botanical family: Asteraceae
The universal little flower of lawns, with a white-and-yellow flower head that closes at night, edible and long used in herbal tradition.
Sun to partial shade
All types, cool
Moderate, prefers moist soil
Very hardy
Overwinters in your zone
Role in permaculture
A small lawn perennial, a spontaneous ground cover that flowers almost all year. Edible and nectar-bearing flowers; a gentle traditional medicinal.
Insects attracted or useful
Documented synergies
Relationships backed by a named source, with their real scope. A synergy without a named reference has no place here, no “it is said that…”.
Its small open flower head offers accessible nectar and pollen to short-tongued insects, and the plant flowers almost all year. Its value lies in this EARLINESS and this length of flowering more than in the volume of resource per flower, a small flower head gives little, compared with the large oxeye daisies. A real but modest resource, not quantified per plant.
reference work
- · Plants For A Future (PFAF), Bellis perennis entry (pollinated by bees, flies, beetles; near-continuous flowering)
Its rosette pressed to the ground and its low-borne flowers let it bloom BELOW the cutting height and bounce back quickly after mowing, hence its ability to keep a lawn flowering even when mown. The benefit to pollinators depends greatly on the mowing frequency: it's a favourable practice (mowing less often), not a quantified effect.
reference work
- · Oxford University Plants 400, Bellis perennis profile (flowering from mid-March to mid-October)
Seasons & availability
Flowers from early spring to autumn, and through a mild winter.
Available: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November.
Guidance for the oceanic / temperate climate; it may vary with your region, altitude, exposure and growing method.
Sources
- Plants For A Future, « Bellis perennis » (pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Bellis+perennis)
- Tela Botanica, « Bellis perennis L. » (tela-botanica.org/bdtfx-nn-9408-description)
Nutritional & medicinal properties
For educational purposes. Not a substitute for medical advice. Effects depend on the form, the dose and personal context.
Precautions & contraindications
A very safe plant in moderate food use; an Asteraceae: caution in case of allergy to composites.
Family behaviour: Asteraceae
In general, Asteraceae are a family rich in flowers appreciated by pollinators and beneficials (pot marigold, yarrow, chamomile). It is very scattered, from the mildest lettuce to the allelopathic sunflower.
Understanding families means learning one rule per family rather than every pairing one by one. Learn more →
Species & varieties
The best-known species and varieties in France.
Common varieties
Voices of peoples
Paraphrases attributed to their documented sources. Never an invented quote.
Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet · England, Prologue of the Legend of Good Women, around 1386
In the prologue of his Legend of Good Women, Chaucer devotes a whole eulogy to the daisy, in the line of the courtly poems dedicated to the 'Marguerite'. He himself glosses the English name of the flower: 'the dayeseye, or elles the ye of day', the eye of day. The linguistic fact is attested: the English word daisy comes from the Old English dæges eage, 'day's eye', by allusion to the flower head that opens at dawn and closes at dusk.
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Legend of Good Women, Prologue (v. 1386) ; étymologie « day's eye » < vieil anglais dæges eage, attestée (Oxford English Dictionary).
The fact presented here is twofold and verifiable: Chaucer's gloss and the 'day's eye' etymology. It has been deliberately distinguished from an account very widespread online, the nymph 'Belides' changed into a daisy, which could not be tied to any ancient source (it does not figure in Ovid): for want of support, it is not proposed. No medicinal statement is put forward.
Keep in mind
Traditional medicinal use: scientific data remain limited.
A note on rigour: many companion pairings are gardening folklore; this note sums up what the sources say, where there are any.
Before you forage
This plant is often gathered from the wild. Only pick what is abundant, never a protected species, and never uproot a whole plant (roots) without the landowner's permission. Rules vary by country and region, check locally.
Key takeaways
- • Prefers sun to partial shade exposure.
- • Ideal soil: all types, cool.