The snow from the last storm is melting, and I can’t help but think about spring. Flowers in the genus Townsendia (common name: Easter Daisy) bloom before any other Colorado wildflower, and usher in the gorgeousness that is spring on the prairie. In the greenhouse we have hundreds of townsendias, of various species, germinating, at this very moment. If you haven’t grown them before, you need to plant some. Most are only three or four inches tall and wide, and are great for a trough, a rock garden, or a xeriscape–any native garden should include them! Are you into fairy gardens or other miniature landscapes? Townsendias are the plants for you. Here are some pictures to let you know what you’ve been missing!
Photograph by Cindy Nelson-Nold
Townsendia parryi
Another picture by Cindy Nelson-Nold
Here’s a picture of the newborn townsendias; it’s hard to believe these will flower yet this year, but they will! They seem to grow quickly from seed to flowering plant, and then, as if they hadn’t already been generous enough, they will seed into your garden and make a colony of daisies for next spring. Townsendias are pollinated by native bees.
Townsendia parryi x eximia
Townsendia hookeri
Thanks to Bob Nold for letting me use Cindy’s pictures on our website.
