Bornholmer Marguerite, Dimorphotheca ecklonis – sowing and care

The Bornholm marguerite originally comes from the warmth, which should be taken into account when choosing the location. That means a full sun, warm, sheltered place is ideal. Even in partial shade, you will have to cut back on the flowering.

Since the balconies and terraces in Germany are mostly facing south or south-west, the right location will not be a problem.

Cape daisies are seldom placed in the bed, as we usually cultivate them as annual summer bloomers. If you live in one of the warmer regions, e.g. B. lives along the North and Baltic Sea coasts (or on Bornholm / DK), but has a good chance of overwintering them outdoors.

floor

A good potting soil with a small amount of peat is best for planting in pots. To loosen it up, you either add a little sand or lava granules to the earth. Otherwise, the Bornholm marguerite is quite undemanding on the ground:

• humic, permeable
• pH value 6 to 8 (slightly acidic, neutral, slightly alkaline)
• no compacted soils

pour

The cape daisy gets along better with short dry phases than with too much moisture. Still, it shouldn’t dry out completely too often. Due to the abundance of flowers and the leaves, the plant gives off a lot of moisture on sunny days.

The following applies to the bucket or balcony box culture:
If the soil feels dry on the surface, it should be poured until the water just begins to run out below. The Bornholm marguerite tolerates normal tap water. Even in the field, do not water until the surface is dry. Then water until the first puddles form.

The best watering time is in the morning or in the evening, never watering from above in full sunlight (e.g. sprinkling system). Otherwise, the plant will suffer burns due to the burning glass effect of the drops.

Fertilize

Like most summer bloomers with long and lush flowers, the cape daisy needs regular food, especially in pots. If you add liquid fertilizer for flowers to the irrigation water every 14 days, you are on the safe side.

In the open air it is enough to add ripe compost, guano fertilizer, horse manure or horn shavings twice to cover the energy requirement. If wintering is planned, the last application of fertilizer should take place in July or the beginning of August.

To cut

With annual summer flowers, a special cut is actually not an issue, but the blooming splendor is encouraged if withered flowers are continuously cut off.

Towards the middle or end of summer you can provoke a re-flowering by cutting stems with withered flowers down to the next strong pair of leaves.

Overwinter

Most of the hybrids of the Osteospermum ecklonis hybrids are, even if they are often declared as hardy, frost-resistant for a short time at a maximum of -5 ° C.

Unless you live in the warmer areas of Germany. Here, a cover with leaves in the bed can be sufficient. A protected location on the house wall is sufficient for the buckets. To be on the safe side, wrap the vessel with foil or burlap and place a styrofoam sheet under the pot.

If you have the time and have the space, you can also try to overwinter your Cape daisies in a bucket in colder climates in Germany:

• Cut the plants down to a third after the last flowering
• From temperatures of 5 degrees, move the tubs to a bright winter quarter
• Temperatures in the winter quarters 5 to 15 ° C
• no longer fertilize
• pour every now and then

If you want to overwinter the small margarite bush that has formed outdoors, you should dig it out generously after pruning. Then it can be placed in a planter and moved to a light, cool, frost-free winter quarters.

When winter is finally over, around the middle of April, the Cape daisies are slowly getting used to the sun again. It is best to place it in partial shade during the day. On frosty nights you can’t avoid taking the Cape daisies to a light, frost-free place for the nights, especially when they have already been driven out. By mid-May you should have survived these in-out actions.

plant

If you want to plant the plants in a bed, in a group or in a row, a distance of 20 centimeters between the plants is optimal. If several cape baskets are to be planted, perhaps as ground cover, it is advisable to thoroughly loosen the soil in this area. Mix it directly with compost and sand before putting the plants in place.

In the tub or balcony box, only material for drainage and good potting soil are required for planting. The work of repotting is usually not necessary for annual seasonal bloomers. However, if they are overwintered and come out of their winter quarters in spring, then this is the best opportunity to give them a larger pot and fresh substrate right away. During this action, dead root parts should also be removed with sharp scissors.

sowing

It is always a horticultural challenge to grow new plants from your own seeds. This is also possible with most of the Dimorphotheca ecklonis hybrid varieties.

To do this, you leave some flowers in the summer. The seeds ripen in autumn. You then have to wait until the seed pods are brown and dry before harvesting. The bare seeds are then stored in a cool, dark and dry place over the winter. In February it can start:

• Fill the seed tray with potting soil or peat sand
• scatter the seeds
• cover very lightly with soil
• Lightly press
• water and always keep moist
• optimal germination conditions: around 25 ° C
• Prick out the 2nd pair of leaves
• Place seedlings in individual pots
• Location: warm, bright window seat

Almost punctually in May, vigorous young plants developed from it. Now you can slowly get used to the sun in the open air.

Cuttings

Bornholm daisies can also be propagated from cuttings. However, this only really makes sense if you live in warmer areas or have spacious winter quarters so that you can enjoy the bloom in the following year.

The best time to cut cuttings is in early summer. Semi-lignified stems, without flowers, are best. They are required in a length of up to 15 centimeters. All leaves except the top two are removed. Then you put the cuttings up to two thirds deep in potting soil. Now all they need is enough heat and moisture to form roots.

sorts

Most of the commercially available Bornholm daisies are hybrids of Dimorphotheca ecklonis. Almost every year new colorful and robust varieties come onto the market.

• ‘Sparkler’ – white with a blue center, up to 50 cm high, compact habit
• ‘Candy Pink’ – spoon-shaped petals, pink
• ‘Spoon Star’ – spoon-shaped petals, white
• ‘Whirligig’ – spoon-shaped petals, white and blue, large flowers
• ‘Buttermilk’: The rays are yellow with a white background
• ‘Moonlight’ – completely yellow flowers
• ‘Nairobi Purple’ – flowers purple above, white underside, blue base
• ‘Lemon Ice’ – double flowers, white-yellow
• ‘Purple 3D’ – up to 60 cm high, double flowers, purple
• ‘Blue Kleoe’ – up to 30 cm, many flowers, blue
• ‘Creme Kleoe’ – flowers white with a yellow center
• ‘Plaisir Pink’ – hanging flower branches, pink

Pests, diseases

Since the Bornholm marguerite is mainly cultivated as an annual, you don’t have to struggle with pests and diseases that much. If you want to protect them from aphids, which are unfortunately ubiquitous, you can spray them with a brew of nettles or field horsetail every now and then. Especially in the first half of its growing season, this preventive treatment gives the plant strength to defend itself against pests and diseases.

Conclusion
Even if it is only for one season, with Bornholm daisies in the garden or on the balcony, you can look forward to an enchanting sea of ​​flowers for months. And: As a small rain indicator, the flowers don’t even open in the morning when it threatens to rain. A little fertilizer, regular watering and plucking of the faded flowers seem to be fair use.