Yellow Paper Daisy

~ Xerochrysum bracteatum ~

ASTERACEAE

Our iconic Paper Daisies look as if they are perfectly preserved by Mother Nature. A pure ray of sunshine for your garden, the Yellow Paper Daisy will bring colour into your day and at night she’ll curl up for her beauty sleep. Bees love groups of flowers that cover up to a metre wide or more, so, if you’re into pollination, plant groups of Paper Daisies throughout your veggie patch and they’ll be a screaming beacon for pollinating bees. They also make for a long-lasting cut flower and can be dried out for an everlasting piece (see Fringed Everlasting on p. 65 for how to do this). As well as bees, the Paper Daisy will bring insects including grasshoppers and butterflies into her realm. Here, she is pictured with the Meadow Argus butterfly (Junonia villida).

WHERE TO LOOK

The Yellow Paper Daisy can be found in all states in varying densities and environments, from open forest and woodlands to red sand and subalpine, with a heavier concentration in temperate and subtropical eastern Australia in sandy soils. They’re known to pop up in open fields of wildflowers after a good rainfall.

Locations → Queensland: Girraween National Park, Lamington National Park, Noosa National Park and Tamborine Mountain; NSW: Kosciuszko National Park and Oxley Wild Rivers National Park; Victoria: Gariwerd (Grampians) National Park.

FEATURES

The Paper Daisy features a soft and sticky green stem and similarly textured leaves 2–11cm long and 5–40mm wide. Although this is its most common form, it can also feature woody stems depending on the environment. The plant itself can grow to around a metre (I’ve had one up to 120cm) but on average they max out at 50–80cm. The yellow daisy-like flower heads have three rows of papery ‘petals’, which are actually bracts. It can be a little complex defining bracts in general as they vary significantly between plants; however, they are often considered closer to a leaf than a petal and exist around the flower in support of the flower head. The feathery seeds are formed within the centre of the flower and are light enough to be dispersed by the wind when mature.

FLOWERING SEASON

Spring to autumn → This perennial (sometimes an annual) flowers mainly in spring and summer, but can stretch out into autumn in warmer areas.

PLANTING

Seeds are very easy to find for most Everlasting species, and the Xerochrysum bracteatum is widely available and very easy to grow. See Plant a Wildflower Meadow on p. xix for a guide. The seeds are formed within the centre of the flower and can be plucked out when ripe, ready for the new season.