Daisy
Useful properties and uses of daisies
Description of daisies
The daisy is a unique genus of perennial plants belonging to the Astrov family. They grow in Europe and in the Mediterranean countries. In Latin, they are called Bellis, which means pearl, since the flowers are very similar to a precious stone. This flower has a very interesting property - it anticipates the weather. Before the rain approaches, they close and lean towards the ground.
The daisy looks like a small herb. It has a short rhizome and obtuse basal leaves of a non-pointed oblong shape. The stem above the ground is almost always leafless. The receptacle of the plant is shaped like a cone. Graceful flowers develop on it - white or pink, having a lingual shape. And in the middle there is always a flower - yellow and tubular, and the achene is always flattened.
This delightful plant forms interesting bushes up to 20 cm high. They are decorated with a very large number of inflorescences that resemble a kind of baskets. Since the daisy is a perennial plant, it blooms after sowing the following year. In the third year, many plants die, or deformations occur, the flowers become smaller, and their texture changes. Thus, in order for the fantastic daisy to be beautiful and large, it is best to grow it as a biennial plant.
When planting and caring, daisies are completely unpretentious plants. They bloom for a long time - from spring to late autumn. Such a gorgeous plant is quite frost-resistant. In the winter period, leaves and buds remain, which remain until early spring. The plant has the following forms of reproduction: sowing from seeds, self-sowing, dividing bushes, cuttings.
Useful properties of daisies
Daisy is widely used in medicine as it has a number of exceptional medicinal properties. Usually, flowering baskets with leaves are used to treat various diseases. In this plant, and especially in the inflorescences, scientists have found a lot of unique biologically active compounds. These include various organic acids, aromatic essential oils, and substances such as saponin and inulin.
Before useful substances were scientifically discovered in a daisy, it was prescribed for a long time to purify the blood, with feverish conditions, rheumatism, with a high concentration of uric acid in the human body, dropsy. And in our time, numerous preparations from perennial daisy are recommended for serious diseases of the endocrine system, which cause disturbances of an important metabolism, as well as in the initial stage of hypertension.
In folk medicine, daisy is used for acute and chronic diseases of the respiratory tract, for example, bronchitis, liver disease, gout, pathological processes in the heart membrane, kidney and bladder diseases. In these cases, it is necessary to apply the plant infusions inside. And external use - in the form of compresses from a decoction is indicated for bruises with open wounds, furunculosis, abscesses, purulent lesions of skin areas, hemorrhoids. For cosmetic purposes, the plant is an excellent astringent.
Daisy application
In order to use the herb of daisies for oral administration, it is necessary to prepare a healing infusion according to a special recipe. You need to take two tablespoons with a slide of dried plant inflorescences and pour 500 ml of boiling water over them. Allow to cool to room temperature, and then be sure to strain. It is recommended to take this remedy for half a glass at least 3 times a day, preferably before meals. For external use, the same infusion is prepared, but the concentration of the herb increases - up to 3 tablespoons of raw materials.
It is necessary to pay special attention to the technology of harvesting daisies. There are several fundamental features here. The plant is harvested throughout the flowering period, but it dries very slowly. The herb cannot be dried in the sun or in a gas oven, otherwise it will lose its unique beneficial properties. Closed balconies and loggias, ventilated attics are best suited for drying, but provided that the temperature there does not exceed 35 ° C. In warm summer weather, it is better to dry herbs under special sheds.
Growing daisies
Today, flowers such as daisies can be found in almost every gardener on the site. With their help, they create exclusive landscape designs for lawns, flower beds and terraces, due to their low growth, compactness and intensity of their flowering in the design of flower beds, borders. Also, florists often use daisy inflorescences to make bouquets and compositions.
Daisies are quite unpretentious, they can grow in sunny places, but they also tolerate shading well. Soils for them are better to choose loose, sufficiently fertilized with humus, with a moderate content of organic compounds. Daisies need watering during dry periods and in hot seasons, as well as in windy weather. If there is not enough moisture, then the inflorescences become small enough, and as a result, they will stop blooming altogether.
Daisies are very fond of feeding from organic and mineral fertilizers, and this is best done in May, when the flowering period begins. It is better to apply liquid fertilizers to the soil, such as nitrophoska and Agricola-Fantasy. For the winter, it is better to cover the plant with dry leaves for more comfortable frost transfer. If the soil is not very suitable for growing daisies, then they rise above the ground. This process is called bulging. To prevent this from happening in the future, it is necessary to add sand, humus and compost to the soil.
It should be noted that bulging can occur due to sudden changes in temperature. To prevent this, you need to cover the soil with mulch to improve its properties. To do this, you can use humus, sawdust and peat, the thickness of their layer should be up to 8 cm. But if the bulging still does not stop, it is better to transplant your plants to another more convenient place for them.
Sowing daisy seeds should be at the end of June. It is better to plant them initially in special boxes for seedlings. The first shoots will appear in two weeks. After the same period of time, it is necessary to dive them and pour water with mineral fertilizers. Further in August, it will be necessary to transfer the seedlings to open ground. The distance between plants must be at least 15 cm.
You can also propagate a spectacular daisy by dividing the bushes. To do this, they need to be dug out at the end of the summer of the second year of their life and divided into separate bushes in such a way that each has a root. Despite the fact that daisies are resistant to diseases and pests, they can still be affected by septoria or cercospora. The main signs of these diseases are spots on the leaves, first brown, then white.
Root decay can also occur. To combat these phenomena, special chemicals are used. Daisies can also be attacked by caterpillars and slugs. In this case, metaldehyde is used.
And despite this, it does not take much effort to grow this flower. And the possibilities of using daisies are quite large.
Daisy varieties
The division of the presented plants into specific species and varieties is determined by the size, texture of the inflorescences and the shape of the petals. The following varieties are most common.
Rose gigantea is a flower with very large flowers that have a pink tint. This variety blooms from May to June. Schneebel is a daisy with large snow-white flowers. Up to 20 inflorescences can bloom at the same time. The flowering period is late spring - early summer.
Another equally common variety is Etna. It has dark, burgundy flowers with a bright orange core, and may include over 20 inflorescences. A fluffier variety is Snowball. It has more than 25 inflorescences at the same time, and each inflorescence is very large. And the smallest daisies are Pompon. In their bushes, the number of inflorescences sometimes reaches 40 pieces, with a diameter of more than 2 cm. The petals of this variety have an interesting feather shape. This daisy blooms from April to the end of July. There are also other popular types.
Perennial daisy. Perennial daisy is a herb that blooms for a single year. In botany, it is always cultivated as a biennial plant. In height, it can reach up to 30 cm. The leaves of such a daisy are oblong and elongated, resembling an egg in shape. Numerous leaves form a root rosette, they are absent on the plant stem.
Inflorescences form single baskets, with tubular flowers and a yellow core. Flowers come in different colors - white, pinkish or red. Blooms in late spring or early summer, and can sometimes bloom throughout summer and autumn.
Garden daisy. The garden daisy is an unmatched perennial plant, but gardeners usually grow it as a biennial. The color can be white or red. Delicate terry garden daisies. This flower is very versatile and gardeners love to use it in covering the soil, for planting around the edges of the flower bed. Also, the presented species can be grown on balconies in special flower boxes, used to decorate alpine slides.
Terry daisy. This plant is quite frost-resistant, reaches a height of 20 cm. It has very numerous peduncles. Inflorescences look like terry baskets, and their color is different - white, red, pink. Flowers in this species are usually quite large, reaching up to 4 cm in width. Today they have found their application in the design of flower beds, flower beds, alpine slides.
To get a flowering plant in the first year of life, the seeds must be sown in early March. But they are usually planted in late June - early July in the beds. This daisy prefers light, fertile soil.
Daisy contraindications
No side effects have been identified with prolonged use of the plant. However, various drugs and medicinal products containing daisies are contraindicated in pregnancy.
The author of the article: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna | Phytotherapist
Education: Diploma in "General Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the Pirogov University (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Moscow (2008).
