The Japanese flower from Japan—that’s actually what the Latin title Nipponanthemum nipponicum interprets to in English. I prefer to think about the botanists who named this plant had a depraved humorousness, or perhaps they have been simply feeling notably literal that day.
Latin title apart, this week’s plant is new to me—a discovery I made after shifting to coastal Maine. We dwell in East Boothbay, only a block from the East Boothbay Normal Retailer. Proper after we moved into our house in September 2012, we made many morning journeys to the Normal Retailer for breakfast whereas we have been nonetheless unpacking. I vividly bear in mind one in all our first walks to the shop after I observed a plant rising alongside Route 96. It had shiny, darkish inexperienced foliage, and for a second, I assumed it was Pittosporum tobira, a plant I knew from my time additional south. However this shrubby plant, about 3 ft huge and tall, appeared too hardy for Maine’s USDA zone 6 local weather—and that piqued my curiosity.
I snapped an image with my iPhone and confirmed it to my new colleagues at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. With out hesitation, they recognized it as a “Montauk daisy.” A couple of weeks later, in early October, the identical plant outdoors the Normal Retailer burst into bloom, coated in vivid white, daisy-like flowers. I used to be struck by how powerful and delightful it was, an ideal plant for an autumn show. I began asking round why extra individuals didn’t use this plant alongside the coast, however most responses have been shrugs. One particular person advised, “Possibly it’s overused round Cape Cod.” Maybe, just like the overdone red-tipped Photinia within the South, Montauk daisies had merely fallen out of style in coastal New England.
However from a design standpoint, I believe these vegetation are incredible. The big, rounded, leathery leaves are succulent-like and paired with the crisp, white flowers create a placing distinction that’s each daring and chic. Their late-season blooms are a welcome sight when a lot of the backyard is beginning to fade. Curiously, the Montauk daisy performed a task in horticultural historical past as one of many mother and father Luther Burbank used to create the well-known Shasta daisy. Burbank, a horticultural legend, first hybridized a number of daisies with out reaching his ultimate plant. After deciding on promising hybrids, he crossed them with Nipponanthemum nipponicum, and a kind of crosses finally grew to become the Shasta daisy.
Whereas Shasta daisies are pretty, I recall them seeding themselves a bit too enthusiastically after I lived within the South. In distinction, the Montauk daisy has a extra shrub-like type with barely smaller flowers however simply as a lot allure. They’re hardy from USDA zones 5 to 9, tolerant of full solar, and as soon as established, they’ll deal with drought—making them a superb alternative for coastal and difficult backyard spots alike.
Whenever you see a Montauk daisy, what are your preliminary ideas? Do you suppose they deserve a spot again within the highlight, or are they greatest left as a nostalgic nod to gardens previous? For me, they’re a reminder that generally essentially the most neglected vegetation are those that shock us essentially the most—identical to discovering just a little piece of horticultural historical past rising beside a roadside common retailer.
– Rodney
Photographs: Land Views, A Backyard For All