The Guide About Bellis Flower

Thus begins Robert Bums's "Lament of Mary Queen of Scots", subtitled "On the Approach of Spring". Burns also dedicated an entire poem to the "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flow'r. A true countryman, the Scottish poet demonstrated in this lyric that he was fully cognizant of this flower's innate virtues. Ideally, bellis should be planted individually; if massed together, one should select a type that is neither too large nor too double. The best arrangement would allow just a trace of white and red to twinkle on an early spring lawn. Unfortunately, Bellis perennis bred to the verge of distortion—has now become a purely decorative species, widely used for "living" floral mosaics in spring flower beds. And it should certainly never be grown on terraces, where crowded into inadequate pots or planters it looks like a soulless plastic flower. The fitting and proper setting for beffis is a meadow or large lawn, a position where it is ideal for planting at the base of shrubs or small trees such as crab-apple, prunus, or magnolias.

According to some, Pliny the Elder was the first to mention the bellis in the beautiful passage "Bellis in pratis nascitur, fore albo, aliquatenus rubente". The origin of the generic name Bellis is uncertain: some say that it comes from the Latin bellum , because it was thought that a substance extracted from one species was effective in healing battle wounds; but it most probably derives from the Latin bellus .

The flower's popularity is reflected by the number of times the word "daisy" is used to describe other flowers : Michaelmas Daisy, Dog Daisy, Moon Daisy, Ox-eye Daisy Bellis was once widely employed in medicine, a use that went back to ancient times, but today it has been replaced by presumably more efficacious remedies. In folk medicine, an infusion made from the flowers was used in the treatment of pleurisy and upper-respiratory ailments. And a poultice prepared from the boiled leaves is still often administered safely and to some advantage in the treatment of bruises, sprains, sores, boils, and abscesses, etc.

Cultivation. Although they are delicate and fragile blooms, bellis flowers appear when the weather is still cold, just as winter is ending. The plants require warm rather than hot sun, and frequent rain. They also prefer a heavy rather than light soil, clayey and well-manured, like that found in most pasture land.

In spite of its poetic and sentimental aura, it is unlikely that anyone would ever want to propagate Bellis perennis. After all the nice things poets have said about this charming little plant, it is well to note that in a well-kept garden the original species is a pernicious, obstinate, invasive, and even dangerous weed, especially where lawns are concerned. Far from wishing to propagate it, the careful gardener spends a great deal of time, labour, and even money attempting to eliminate it. Probably neither Pliny nor Robert Burns was interested in perfect garden lawns; the "daisies" so admired by them were growing wild. However, the hybrids and horticultural varieties of Bellis perennis are of the greatest value in the garden, and their ease of cultivation, long flowering period, attractive blooms, and good colours are all qualities much esteemed by the gardener.

Bellis are best propagated by division; in fact, many horticultural varieties are sterile. Even if fertile seed is available, the resulting seedlings would not always breed true. Division can be accomplished in late summer or early autumn: the most satisfactory method is to place the divided sections individually in small pots, which can be kept in a coldframe or cool greenhouse during the winter and planted out into their flowering positions the following spring. In favoured climates , the divided plants can be planted directly into their flowering positions in late summer Sometimes the horticultural varieties are used as biennials and discarded in early summer to make way for such summer-flowering annuals as petunias, zinnias, marigolds, etc.  Another method is to divide old plants in May— June, planting them either in nursery beds or potting them for the summer months, and then planting them out in autumn in beds or borders together with spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips. This makes a background for the bulbs, prolongs the flowering period in the beds, and, because the bellis plants retain their foliage, avoids leaving the beds naked during the winter. Plants that are to remain permanently in the same position should also be lifted, divided, and replanted in late summer, because a long, hot, dry summer nearly always results in some casualties, thus creating vacant spaces here and there which can be refilled at the time of replanting. Yet another valid reason for the division and replanting of permanent bellis is that some of the large-flowered very double forms are liable to degenerate and revert to type if left undisturbed for more than a year.

If the plants are to be raised from seed, this should be sown during the period June—August in coldframes or nursery beds, or in seed boxes placed in an unheated greenhouse. Germination takes place within a matter of days, and when the seedlings are large enough to handle conveniently, they can be pricked out into either frames or nursery beds. In autumn or the following spring the young plants can be placed outside in their flowering positions. Seed of the more common, more robust, less sophisticated varieties can be sown in spring directly into their flowering positions. A particular advantage of bellis is that their root ball always remains compact, enabling them to be easily lifted and transplanted at any time, even when in flower, without damage. Bellis cultivated for early-spring cut bloom should be potted with a good root ball in October—November and placed in coldframes. Flower heads will be produced as soon as the temperature reaches.

Bellis perennis L.

Native to the meadows and pasture lands of Europe; naturalized in California. A hardy herbaceous perennial, parent of many superb horticultural forms. Remarkable for its hardiness and for its more or less perpetual-flowering habit (in sheltered places, from January to December), although the maximum flowering period is spring, when the white, sometimes pinkish, single star-like flowers completely cover fields and meadows. The leaves form a basal rosette, and are obovate-spatulate, narrowing sharply towards the stalk. The plants are prostrate, are almost stemless, and spread rapidly. The diameter of the flowers is about the flower heads are solitary, borne on finely hairy stems up to  high, but generally much shorter. The outer "petals" (botanically, ligules) are white, sometimes pinkish on the reverse side; while the central disc (made up of ray flowers) is yellow. At dusk the flowers close, reopening at dawn. The horticultural forms and varieties are numerous, and new ones continue to be developed, but the flower colours are confined to variations of white, pink, and red. The flower forms vary from single to semi-double and completely double, with a diameter up to. Sometimes the blooms are self-coloured, sometimes spotted, streaked, marbled, or bicoloured. One interesting variety produces a very big white or pale-pink flower surrounded by a circle of many smaller flowers The exceptionally large-flowered types are referred to as Monstrosa varieties, and in some cases these blooms actually consist of several smaller inflorescences fused together like a crest, thus earning the common name of Cockscomb forms; while the smaller-flowered forms are called Pompon varieties. Having inherited the long and even winter-flowering habit of Bellis perennis, all these varieties can be successfully cultivated in pots in a cool greenhouse or coldframe, either for use as flowering plants or for providing cut bloom in late winter and early spring.

Bellis rotundifolia L.

Native to Morocco and Algeria. The leaves form a rosette at the base of the plant and are more or less hairy, ovate, serrated, in length borne on long stalks. The flowers are single, borne on a slender stem that rises well above the leaves. They have white and lilac outer petals and the central disc florets are yellow; the entire inflorescence is about  in diameter. The var. caerulescens has light lilac-blue or blue ligules. Although a perennial, this species is more satisfactorily cultivated as a non-hardy annual as it will not tolerate frost.