Marguerite Daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens)

Mediterranean Garden, Flower Dome

The Marguerite daisy, known scientifically as Argyranthemum frutescens, is a beloved ornamental shrub that brings a refreshing, sun-kissed aesthetic to the landscape. Native to the Canary Islands, a Spanish Autonomous Community off the northwestern coast of Africa, this plant prefers mild daytime temperatures (20 to 29°C) and cool nights (15 to 20°C), and has become a staple in many temperate gardens for its enduring beauty and prolific blooming habit.

Belonging to one of the largest families in the plant kingdom – the daisy family (Asteraceae), the same group that includes sunflowers and dahlias, the Marguerite daisy is a tender perennial with an exquisite and feathery appearance. It typically grows as a bushy, rounded subshrub, reaching heights of one to two meters. Its foliage is one of its most attractive features: the leaves are finely divided, and feathery or fern-like, providing a delicate, lacy texture that complements its bright white flowers.

The Marguerite daisy has a unique floral structure. As a typical member of the Asteraceae family, it does not produce single, individual flowers. Instead, what looks like a single white-petaled, yellow-centred flower is actually composed of numerous tiny flowers, or florets, on a specialised flower stalk inflorescence called a capitulum.

What looks like individual petals around the edge of the capitulum are tiny flowers called ray florets, which are usually sterile, sometimes female, and serve to attract pollinators with the conspicuous colourful ligules (the outward protrusion of the fused petals on a ray floret). These ray florets with their petal-like ligules surround a centre of dozens or sometimes hundreds of tiny, tubular, bisexual florets, called disc florets (or tubular florets). If properly pollinated and fertilised, each disc floret will produce a single-seeded dry fruit called a cypsela, which features a tuft of fine hairs that act like a parachute, similar to fluffy-headed, pointed-tip dandelion “seeds”, which are also cypselas.

 With the Marguerite daisy, the petal-like projections of the ray florets are a crisp, clean white, radiating outward from a dense, golden-yellow centre of disc florets. This high-contrast pairing creates the iconic "daisy" look.

Because this species is so outstandingly beautiful, horticulturists have spent years breeding a vast array of its cultivars. Modern varieties have evolved far beyond the natural white form found in the wild, and cultivated varieties are now available with ligules in shades of soft primrose yellow, blush pink, and deep cherry red. Some cultivars even feature double blooms, where some or all of the disc florets are transformed into extra rings of ray florets, creating a ruffled, full appearance.

In Flower Dome of Gardens by the Bay, after you admire the strikingly luxuriant and milky Marguerite daisy in Mediterranean Garden, don't miss the pink cultivar just around the corner! 

This article is part of our What's Blooming series.