My apologies for the repost. I've posted this twice now but haven't
gotten a response. My daisies look so awkward and I want to make them
better: Thanks in advance for any responses!

My margharite daisies are losing leaves near the bottom of the stem,
leaving a long bare stem exposed with a ball of leaves near the top. Is
this normal? Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks,
Adam (zone 5, Iowa City)

"Adam Schwartz" expounded:

My apologies for the repost. I've posted this twice now but haven't
gotten a response. My daisies look so awkward and I want to make them
better: Thanks in advance for any responses!

My margharite daisies are losing leaves near the bottom of the stem,
leaving a long bare stem exposed with a ball of leaves near the top. Is
this normal? Is there any way to fix this?

Were they potted? If they were, they were probably potted in shipping
medium, which isn't good soil at all. Once it gets dry, there's no
wetting it. When planted anything in a good sized (5-6" or larger)
pot, it's a good idea to remove as much of the soil as possible before
planting. Once the leaves are gone, unless you cut the plant back
hard (and pray a lot) I think they're gone. Of course, if you cut
them back, you lose the blooms.

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

Hello Adam,

I have margharite daises in my garden - three kinds: yellow, pink and white.
I've found that the leaves at the bottom of the stem do wither and turn
brown. That's ok - the stem or canes are just growing old.

What you need to do is to prune the plant heavily in late Winter. Then when
Spring comes, the plant will come up with new shoots. Don't prune the plant
in spring or summer if your seasons are very hot. In Summer where I live, I
pruned some of my daises in late spring but before the new shoots could
establish themselves, they were scorched by the summer sun and the plant
died.

If you don't do this, the plant will have a small patch of leaves at the end
of all the stems.

Although I don't have the answer, this is kind of what happened to my plant
too. I bought it to grow as indoor Bonsai. After the first year of letting
it grow inside I decided I didn't like it, so I planted it outside in the
garden. It was planted in good soil under full sun. Same thing happened,
long bare stems with foliage only at the top. I had to feed it to the
compost heap, it was just too ugly.
--
Jam

(remove the "m" )


My margharite daisies are losing leaves near the bottom of the stem,
leaving a long bare stem exposed with a ball of leaves near the top. Is
this normal? Is there any way to fix this?

Thanks,
Adam (zone 5, Iowa City)