Blackfoot Daisy / Melampodium

Blackfoot Daisy / Melampodium leucanthum
From Waterwise plant sale, Spring 2021

Photos

Expectations:

Water lightly and infrequently. A pleasing rounded ground cover mound with lots of sunny white flowers will result. 

The temptation is to water and fertilize, but the short term gain in flowering will cut the lives of these plants short.

Full sun, rocky / sandy soil, and gravel mulch are what they want. 

They are tough and need no care and very very little water, and I see them blanketing dry street medians all over town.

Experiences:

In 2021 I put six of these little things out at the corner of the driveway where Mojave sage and lavender and silver horehound marrubium had all failed.   

The plan is to have them spread among the rocks at this corner and make a mounded carpet among them. 

After a difficult start, they perked up and flowered well. But I need to heed the advice and let these get dry. Watering will make them flower more, but will shorten their lives.