Shasta daisy aka oxeye daisy

Sometimes called oxeye daisies, these plants were the darlings of old fashioned gardens and can still be found in many gardens and towns. This is a case of inaccurate common names leading to confusion. Technically, oxeye daisies are Leucanthemum vulgare, while shasta daisy is a L. vulgare hybrid Leucanthemum x superbum.

Both are sparsely foliaged plants, with white flowers. Modern cultivars of Shasta daisy (such as the award winning ‘Becky’) have a longer season of bloom, larger flowers, and have the added benefit of being sterile. We recommend these.

Old fashioned Shasta daisies have taken to wild places and made enormous weeds of themselves, quickly sowing themselves into meadows and rapidly outcompeting native plants. They have become especially problematic in Banff National Park, Crowsnest Pass and in regions in southern Saskatchewan. We do not recommend this plant.

If you feel you must put a daisy in your garden, make sure you buy a reputable, named cultivar and be prepared to control it. Dig and remove the old kinds, or at the very least keep them seriously deadheaded!