Leucanthemella serotina

I never quite understood where all the chrysanthemums went, but I suspect this was once one of them. Certainly its current name sounds as though it was hatched in botanical indecision. It is, after all, only a five-foot daisy – but one that flowers when everything else is packing it in. I have it stationed here and there in the garden where turning leaves make mid-October the mellowest moment. Bright wide-open daisies three inches across, standing tall on stiff leafy stems, bring unexpected freshness to the scene (and as cut flowers last a long time indoors).

They come from damp meadows in southern Europe but tolerate our clay soil, damp or not, and survive until November turns nasty.

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