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How to Grow Shasta Daisies: A Cheerful Guide to Planting & Care

Learn how to plant and grow shasta daisies, a classic perennial.

Botanical Name
Leucanthemum x superbum
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
Toxicity
Toxic to Dogs and Cats
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Water Needs
Low
Height
1–3 feet
Spread
1–3 feet
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
White
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Cut Flower
Disease-Resistant
Long Blooming
Low Maintenance
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Pollinators
Attracts Songbirds
Deer-resistant
Rabbit-resistant
Resilience
Cold Hardy
Drought-Tolerant
Heat-Tolerant
Salt Tolerant
Plant Type
Flowers
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Looking to add a pop of sunshine to your garden? Meet the Shasta daisy, cheerful, low-maintenance, and endlessly charming! These classic white-and-yellow perennials are more than just pretty faces. 

With their long blooming season, pollinator-friendly petals, and fuss-free personality, Shasta daisies are a dream come true for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to grow and care for Shasta daisies—from planting tips to keeping them blooming bright all summer long.

Shasta daisies return each year in late spring or early summer and continue blooming into early fall, forming tidy clumps about 2 to 3 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide. Their glossy green foliage and sturdy stems make them excellent for garden beds, borders, and long-lasting cut flower arrangements. Because they can spread over time and may self-seed, some gardeners choose to remove spent blooms or plant them in contained beds to keep growth manageable.

Buy Seeds Now

These easy-care perennials attract pollinators and provide consistent color throughout the summer, making them a dependable choice for sunny garden spaces, cottage gardens, and fresh-cut bouquets.

Planting

Where to Plant Shasta Daisies

Grow daisies in full sun for the best blooms. 

Soil should be moderately fertile—too rich, and you’ll get more vegetation than flowers. The soil should also be moist but well-draining.

To improve soil fertility before planting, loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.

When to Plant Shasta Daisies

  • Sow seeds in containers in a cold frame in autumn or spring.
  • If you seed directly, expect blooms after one season’s growth the following spring.
  • If purchasing a plant in a container, plant in spring or early fall.

How to Plant Shasta Daisies

  • Space plants 1 to 2 feet apart. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the container.
  • When placing the plant in the hole, make sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
  • Fill around the root ball and firm the soil.
  • Water thoroughly.
  • Taller plants may need support/staking.

Growing

  • Water during the summer only if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. Daisies are generally tolerant of dry spells once they are established.
  • Every spring, apply some compost and mulch to help control weeds.
  • As flowers fade, deadhead to extend the blooming season.
  • After the first killing frost, cut stems back to an inch or two above the soil line. (See local frost dates.)

Dividing Daisies

To keep daisies blooming their best, plan to divide them every 2 to 3 years in early spring (before flowers appear) or in late summer or early fall (after flowers fade). Signs that a plant should be divided include:

  • Less-vigorous foliage growth
  • Smaller flowers or fewer flowers overall
  • Parts of the plant appear sparse or dead (especially the center of a clump)

How to Divide Daisies

  1. Use a spade or garden fork to loosen the soil around the plant, then gently remove it from the soil, doing your best to leave most roots intact.
  2. Brush or shake off soil from the roots. Then, using a sharp knife or pruning shears, divide the plant into two or more pieces, ensuring that each piece has at least a few stems and healthy-looking roots. Discard any diseased or damaged pieces.
  3. Replant the divisions as desired (spaced about 1-2 feet apart).

Harvesting

  • Shasta daisies make for a lovely cut flower, lasting a week or more in arrangements.

Pests and Problems

Daisies are generally low maintenance and disease resistant. However, the following may occasionally be troublesome:

Types

  • ‘Becky’ is a classic variety with large flowers that grows to about 3 feet tall.
  • ‘Cobham Gold’ is a popular variety with double flower heads and a yellow disc carried atop 2-foot stems.
  • ‘Horace Reed’ is an elegant daisy with double white flower heads and incurved disk florets.
  • ‘Snow Lady’ is a fast-growing, erect, bushy perennial that blooms the first year from seed and produces single white flower heads in the summer.

Wit and Wisdom

  • Daisies are one of the April birth flowers. They are also said to symbolize innocence and hope. Learn more flower meanings here.
  • A European native, Shasta daisies are now naturalized throughout North America.

Black bees on the clover-heads drowsily clinging, 
Where tall feathered grasses and buttercups sway; 
And all through the fields a white sprinkle of daisies, 
Open-eyed at the setting of day. 
–Abba Woolson

Flowers

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening, so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Devin Bent</span> Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:10
I planted my shasta daisies last summer and they grew like crazy but did not bloom. Now they are about 2 feet wide by 3 feet tall and still growing, but still no sign of blooms. They are not staked but show no signs of falling over. It is more like they are going to take over. From earlier comments it looks like maybe I should have pinched them back this spring. But I didn't. So what can I do now? Can I just prune them back? Thanks for any help.
<span>Darrenlewis</span> Thu, 06/04/2015 - 08:19
Pinch them back and feed with SuperBloom, it has a much higher Phosphate which will promote blooming. I use Scott's SuperBloom.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 06/01/2015 - 13:48

Shastas grow best in full sun; be sure that your plants get at least 5 or 6 hours of full sun each day (in hot climates, part sun in afternoon is helpful). Soil should be well-drained and moist but not waterlogged.

 

Also, check that the plants are not receiving too much nitrogen, which promotes leaf growth over flowers.

 

Some gardeners pinch back stems of taller varieties in early spring, when growth gets to about 6 inches long but before buds develop, to encourage bushiness; this may delay flowering, so you might hold off on this technique until the flowering issue is resolved. If your plants do flower, remove the spent blossoms to encourage more to develop. In cold climates, prune the plant back to 1 or 3 inches tall in fall, after flowering.

 <span>Carol Fox</span> Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:51
Birds are destroying the blossoms on my daisies, picking the petals off to get at the seed, I assume. How can I stop this?
<span>Devin Bent</span> Sat, 05/30/2015 - 12:16
I have never had this problem, but IMO -- put out some bird seed for them.
<span>Lhen Matuan</span> Sat, 05/16/2015 - 19:49
I planted my shasta daisy last yr i didn't mulch and cut it back 4 inch to the ground this early spring and i transplant it recently from part shade to the sunny part of the garden its mid may now here in denmark and im still not seeing any sign of life, did i kill my shasta daisy?
<span>Reenie</span> Thu, 05/14/2015 - 15:53
How tall do they normally get?
<span>Jo Bales</span> Sun, 05/17/2015 - 16:27
The height will depend on the cultivar. For instance, I have grown the cultivar "Alaska" from seed and they are huge, 36-40 inches tall. I also have the cultivar "Snow Lady" growing with my daylilies and it is about 18-inches tall (about the height of the fans of the larger daylilies). There is another cultivar I'm looking at for the edge of beds, "White Breeze" that is supposed to only grow about 12-inches tall. There are many, many cultivars now available on the market, seeds or plants, so you should be able to fine one (or several) that will be able to meet any need you have.
<span>Jack Audino</span> Mon, 03/30/2015 - 19:07
It is the end of winter in upstate NY, the leaves of my shasta daisies are brown and look dead. Should I remove those leaves that look dead?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 04/02/2015 - 10:41

Hi Jack,

Yes, prune the stems down to about two inches above the soil. We recommend that you cut stems back in the fall after the first fall frost.