Oxeye Daisies Provide Abundant Beauty, Food and Medicine!

sagescrub (64)in #gardening • 6 years ago

The Oxeye Daisies are coming into bloom here! First they are blooming in small pockets around the property and along roadsides. Soon they will come up and fill some of the fields and meadows where they reseed abundantly. These Daisies are just one type of flower in a succession of spring flowers like a slow motion fireworks display!

Even the most common of the wildflowers offer such stunning beauty in our every day lives. Being that they grow wild gives me the reminder of the part of myself that is wild - the wild part of me that instinctively knows how to be.

Oxeye Daisy – Chrysanthemum vulgare

Life cycle: Perennial / Ease of propagation: Moderate / Hardiness zone: 3-9

We enjoy watching the Oxeye Daisy come into bloom after the dandelions have past but before the yarrow really gets going. Their bloom time is fairly lengthy. In a cultivated setting however the leaves and blooms will keep on going much of the season with enough water. The white flowers with yellow center are beautiful close up but also stunning from a distance when many daisies are blooming at once. The Oxeye Daisies send their flower stalks up high enough that the flowers can be seen, even from within a tall grass.

Oxeye daisy leaves grow in a rosette somewhat akin to Dandelion. Oxeye Daisies do well in under nourished soils and play their part in rebuilding overgrazed or over fertilized pastures and fields, but they will also thrive in the garden setting with moist but well drained soil.

The Oxey Daisy’s leaves are tasty and have a unique flavor. Somewhat sweet with a hint of pepperiness the leaves taste somewhat like a cross between spinach, romaine lettuce and arugula with a sweet note. Oxeye Daisy leaves make great salads! They are also perfect for garnishing your soups, potatoes, rice or most any other dish that could use a green garnish. They can also be cooked by steaming or sauteeing. The green leaves can be collected throughout the year, depending on how much water is available to the plants, and in many climates can be collected right through the winter, when they are not covered by snow.

The young flower buds can be eaten as well fresh or cooked. They can be pickled with results somewhat similar to capers. They also make a good wine. The fully opened flowers would be the perfect addition to any salad.

Medicinally the leaves are hemostatic and can be used to stop bleeding. The leaves are useful for treating wounds, swelling and inflammation both internally and externally.

Interestingly, research shows that tea of the Oxeye Daisy leaf can be used as an antihistamine to relieve symptoms of allergies.

Antispasmodic, diruetic, tonic. Ox-Eye Daisy has been successfully employed in whooping-cough, asthma and nervous excitability. As a tonic, it acts similarly to Chamomile flowers, and has been recommended for nightsweats. The flowers are balsamic and make a useful infusion for relieving chronic coughs and for bronchial catarrhs. Boiled with the leaves and stalks and sweetened with honey, they make an excellent drink for the same purpose. In america, the root is also employed successfully for checking the night-sweats of pulmonary consumption

– Maud Grieve, A Modern Herbal

Sowing Instructions

Sow in place ¼ inch deep in late spring. Or sow in the greenhouse in spring and prick out into pots when they are large enough, then transplant in summer.