Great Native Plant: Angelita Daisy
Want a pretty perennial that can handle high and low temps with little fuss? Versatile angelita daisy is your workhorse
Noelle Johnson
May 24, 2013
The sunny flowers of angelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) will brighten any landscape, but if you look beyond the pretty flowers of this Southwestern native, you will find that it packs a few surprises. Angelita daisies thrive in the hot temperatures of summer and handle the cold of USDA climate zone 5 just as easily. If you need a colorful perennial along a pathway, by a pool or in a container, angelita daisy can fill that need. And as if that weren't enough, this tough little perennial flowers year-round in zones 8 and above, making it a great addition to almost any garden.
Botanical name: Tetraneuris acaulis (formerly Hymenoxys acaulis)
Common name: Angelita daisy
Origin: Native to the American Southwest
USDA zones: 5 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Low
Light requirement: Full sun
Mature size: 1 foot tall and wide
Tolerances: Drought tolerant but does best with weekly watering
Seasonal interest: Yellow daisy-like flowers appear throughout the year in zones 8 and above. In zones 5 to 7, it will go dormant in winter.
When to plant: Plant from container plants in fall or spring.
Common name: Angelita daisy
Origin: Native to the American Southwest
USDA zones: 5 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Low
Light requirement: Full sun
Mature size: 1 foot tall and wide
Tolerances: Drought tolerant but does best with weekly watering
Seasonal interest: Yellow daisy-like flowers appear throughout the year in zones 8 and above. In zones 5 to 7, it will go dormant in winter.
When to plant: Plant from container plants in fall or spring.
Distinguishing traits. Yellow 1-inch daisies are borne above dark green, grass-like foliage, forming a neat and compact perennial. This tough little plant is a workhorse in the garden. Blooms appear throughout the year in low desert regions, with most flowers appearing in spring. In higher elevations angelita daisies will stop flowering in winter, but they will resume blooming once the weather warms in spring.
How to use it. Angelita daisies are extremely versatile in the landscape and look best when planted together in masses of three or five. Dress up a lonely boulder by planting three angelita daisies toward the side, or plant groups along a winding pathway.
Because yellow-flowering plants help the other colors in your landscape pop, angelita daisy looks great paired with succulents such as agave and purple prickly pear (Opuntia violaceae var santa-rita, zones 8 to 11). Other options include planting it with firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatoni, zones 5 to 9) or in front of Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica, zones 9 to 11).
Need a yellow-flowering perennial for your container garden? Angelita daisies do great in pots and are equally at home by a swimming pool.
Because yellow-flowering plants help the other colors in your landscape pop, angelita daisy looks great paired with succulents such as agave and purple prickly pear (Opuntia violaceae var santa-rita, zones 8 to 11). Other options include planting it with firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatoni, zones 5 to 9) or in front of Baja fairy duster (Calliandra californica, zones 9 to 11).
Need a yellow-flowering perennial for your container garden? Angelita daisies do great in pots and are equally at home by a swimming pool.
Planting notes. Angelita daisies are very low maintenance and have a few basic requirements to help them look their best: well-drained soil, full sun and supplemental water. Don't worry about fertilizer; they do best without it.
This Southwest native looks best when the flowers are sheared back every couple of months, which increases the amount of new flowers.
Angelita daisies can handle areas with full, reflected sun. Hardy to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, they will make themselves at home in almost any landscape and add beauty throughout the year with very little fuss.
More Houzz guides to yellow flowers
This Southwest native looks best when the flowers are sheared back every couple of months, which increases the amount of new flowers.
Angelita daisies can handle areas with full, reflected sun. Hardy to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, they will make themselves at home in almost any landscape and add beauty throughout the year with very little fuss.
More Houzz guides to yellow flowers
Dream Baths is a complete design-build-remodel firm located in the Historical German Village area of downtown... Read More
What are you working on?
Related Products
We believe everyone deserves a space that will make them feel comfortable. Our goal is to help you create and... Read More
Related Stories
Landscape Design
What Will We Want in Our Landscapes in 2024?
Discover seven trends that landscape designers predict homeowners will be bringing into their outdoor spaces this year
Full Story
Spring Gardening
8 Tips to Get Your Early-Spring Garden Ready for the Season
Find out how to salvage plants, when to cut back damaged branches, when to mulch and more
Full Story
Winter Gardening
How to Prune Your Fruit Trees in Winter
Garden chores may slow down this season, but pruning your fruit trees now means healthier plants that will produce more
Full Story
Winter Gardening
Get a Head Start on Planning Your Garden Even if It’s Snowing
Reviewing what you grew last year now will pay off when it’s time to head outside
Full Story
Landscape Design
Pros Share Their Top Plant Picks for a Low-Maintenance Yard
Landscape pros weigh in on the plants they’d use — and ones they’d avoid — to create an easy-care garden
Full Story
Landscape Design
10 Tips for Planting a Beautiful, Low-Maintenance Landscape
Landscape pros share their advice for planning a garden that’s easy to care for
Full Story
Gardening Guides
12 Gardening Ideas You Can Count as Resolutions
See how to set up your outdoor areas for more enjoyment next year and make them a bit more earth-friendly in the process
Full Story
Holidays
Last-Minute Ideas for Attractive Winter Container Designs
Create a welcoming holiday entryway with ideas from these 9 looks
Full Story
Winter Gardening
8 Tips for Keeping Your Houseplants Healthy in Winter
Reduce watering, stop fertilizing, move them into the light and more
Full Story
Fall Gardening
7 Reasons Not to Clean Up Your Fall Garden
Before you pluck and rake, consider wildlife, the health of your plants and your own right to relax
Full Story
good to know!
The 20th century aesthetic for largest, showy flowers possible created a world of unnatural plants that are solely focused on bloom and utterly sterile and produce no nectar for pollinators. Compounded with a grass monoculture whose regular dousing of high nitrogen fertilizers has destroyed life in waterways around our country, our suburban gardens literally destroy the environment needed by the creatures we share the earth with.
Mankind’s very existence is wholly dependent upon pollinators.
It’s not even difficult to adapt ones taste to the beauty of real, native, and natural species to ones area. The benefits include lively and beautiful clouds of butterflies, dozens of types of bees adding not just their own color to gardens but movement and more important still, the life of species our own lives depend on.
The massive flower displays do not necessarily have to be lost with smarter planting. Taste needs to evolve with science. Plants like this are a necessity If you want to go on living. It really is that important to see your gardens with new eyes.
The butterflies more than make up the difference!