By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star on May 7, 2002
Along the road I drive into Boerne, one of the very first plants to start blooming after those late-winter record-low temperatures was the black-foot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum). It is still blooming and probably will continue to bloom through the summer and into the fall. Last year when we had some late-summer and early-fall rain, black-foot daisies made a spectacular comeback and bloomed profusely until the cold weather came. spring-like
This hardy little bloomer is the May plant-of-the-month for Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!), sponsored by the Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. We chose black-foot daisy, because it is pretty, but tough. This composite has abundant small flower heads with white petals (8-10 ray flowers) and yellow centers (numerous disk flowers). It is drought and deer resistant, and it does not need good soil nor much water, a perfect candidate for the NICE! project.
To paraphrase the old standup comedian’s line, a funny thing happened on our way to Operation NICE! To kick off the NIСЕ! program in April, we selected Texas mountain laurel, a favorite early-bloomer. As luck would have it, the late frigid weather destroyed virtually all the mountain laurel bloom buds in the Hill Country this year. Because of this, none of our cooperating local nurseries could get blooming laurels from their wholesalers.
Then for May we originally chose the colorful wine cup, which is increasingly becoming a favorite for landscaping in this area. That same late cold snap also made it impossible for most of the local nurseries to get blooming winecups. When we learned this, we selected black-foot daisy to be plant-of-the-month number two.
Wouldn’t you know it! Black-foot daisies are such a popular perennial this year that some wholesalers’ stock is depleted. Nevertheless, it is a good plant to grow when you can find it, and our cooperating nurserymen are scouting out sources for it.
A few years ago when my wife and I saw the low-growing clumps of black-foot daisies blooming on the hillside behind our house, we wanted to have it in our flower beds. It seemed to us it would be a great border plant or rock-garden plant, because it generally grows only about a foot high, spreads laterally, and blooms a lot, even in the heat.
The first ones we planted probably were loved to death. They seemed to respond to watering; so I didn’t hold back, and they bloomed into the fall. However, they didn’t winter over. The next ones we planted were rarely watered. They bloomed nevertheless. And they continue to come back every spring. Apparently black-foot daisies do better without too much TLC.
The black-foot daisy is adapted to thin calcareous soil with good drainage. It does well in part shade or full sun.
Written instructions for planting and watering the black-foot daisy are available free at the local nurseries which are participating in Operation NICE! These are Boerne In Bloom Garden Center, Fair Oaks Nursery, Hill Country African Violets and Nursery, Where Wild Things Grow (Leon Springs), and Barkley’s Nursery Center.
