Ornamental · Asteraceae
Gazania
Gazania rigens
Give it full sun and dry feet, and the treasure flower throws open bold, daisy-bright blooms all season.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 8–11
6–12 in · 15–30 cm
Overview
Gazania, or the treasure flower, is a low, spreading member of the daisy family that comes from southern Africa. It's the kind of plant that earns its spot with big, bold blooms in hot oranges, yellows, reds, and stripes, sitting on short stems just over a tidy mat of leaves. Where winters stay mild it lives on as a tender perennial, and everywhere colder you just grow it as an annual, tucking it into beds, borders, and containers that get plenty of sun.
So what makes it such an easy keeper? It barely asks for anything. It's happy in poor, sandy soil, doesn't blink at drought once it's rooted in, and keeps flowering from spring right into fall. The one quirk is that the flowers follow the sun, opening wide in bright light and closing at night or under a gray sky, so a sunny spot is really all it wants in return.
Give it heat, light, and soil that drains fast, and gazania pretty much runs itself. Go heavy on the watering, though, and that same toughness turns on you, because soggy roots are the one thing it won't put up with.
Care
The short version: full sun, light well-drained soil, and an easy hand with the watering can. Let the soil dry between drinks, snip off the spent flowers, and feed lightly through the growing season.
Light
Gazania wants full sun, at least six hours a day. The flowers stay shut in shade and only open wide in bright, direct light, so the sunniest spot you've got is the one to pick.
Water
Take it easy here. Let the top half of the soil dry out between waterings, roughly every 7 to 14 days once it's established, and ease off even more in cool or wet weather. It's fine with drought, but soggy soil rots the roots and crown.
Soil
Put it in light, well-drained ground, and it'll take even poor sandy soil happily. Any pH from 5.5 to 7.5 works, and good drainage counts way more than rich soil.
Temperature
Gazania's comfortable across a wide range, from about 19°F to 90°F (-7°C to 32°C). It handles summer heat just fine and shrugs off a light chill, but a hard frost will finish off a plant that's out in the open.
Humidity
Regular outdoor air is all it needs, so there's no number to worry about. Damp, stuffy air is the thing to dodge, since that's what invites powdery mildew onto the leaves.
Feeding
Feed it lightly with a balanced general fertilizer through the growing season, about once a month. It does fine in lean soil, so go easy rather than heavy, and it'll keep blooming instead of just piling on leaves.
Pruning
There's no real cutting back to bother with. Just deadhead the spent flowers as they fade, which keeps new buds coming and stops the plant from wasting energy on seed.
Size & spacing
Plants stay low and tidy, around 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) tall and about as wide. Give each one roughly that much room to spread, so air moves around and the mat fills in without getting crowded.
When to plant
Gazania loves warmth and won't handle a hard frost, so timing matters here. Start seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost, get the young plants outside once the cold's gone and the soil's warmed up, and the blooms will keep coming from spring through fall until frost wraps things up.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost date
- Plant: After the last spring frost date once soil has warmed
- Harvest: Blooms spring through fall, often until first frost; flowering may pause during the hottest part of summer
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 8–11
Temperature: down to -12°C
Troubleshooting
Most gazania headaches come down to one of two things: too much water or not enough sun. Keep an eye on the roots, leaves, and flowers, and you can usually catch the early signs and fix them with a small tweak. Find what matches below, then act before it spreads.
The stems and crown go brown and mushy, then the plant tips over
When the base turns soft and brown, that's root and stem rot, and it nearly always comes from too much water or soil that just won't drain. Here's the hard part: once the crown goes mushy, the plant's done, so pull it and bin it. Water less, work some grit into the bed, and let things dry out between drinks, and you'll be back on track.
Fix:
- Reduce watering
- Improve soil drainage
- Remove and discard affected plants
A dusty white layer showing up on the leaves
That chalky white stuff is powdery mildew, a fungus that likes air that's damp and doesn't move. Pick off the leaves that look the worst, and open the planting up so a breeze can get through. Watering down at the base instead of over the top keeps the leaves dry, and that goes a long way toward slowing it.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation
- Avoid overhead watering
- Remove affected foliage
Cottony fluff or a sticky coating on plants brought inside
Plants that spend winter indoors often pick up mealybugs or aphids, and they leave behind cottony bits and a sticky film on the stems. Rinse the bugs off, then hit them with insecticidal soap and keep at it until they're gone. Keep that plant off on its own for a while so the trouble doesn't hop to the others.
Fix:
- Wash off pests
- Apply insecticidal soap
- Isolate infested plants
The blooms stay closed or only crack open a bit
Wondering if something's wrong? It isn't, this is just what gazania does. The flowers shut at night and on cloudy days, and they only open all the way in bright, direct sun. Give the planting a spot with at least six hours of light and the blooms will open up just fine.
Fix:
- Site in full sun (6+ hours direct light)
Toxicity
Gazania is one of the easygoing ones to keep around the house and garden. It isn't listed as toxic, so cats, dogs, and grazing animals are all safe near it, and a curious nibble from a kid or pet is nothing to fret about. Go ahead and plant it wherever you like.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
You're fine with a cat around. If one chews on a leaf or petal, it won't do any harm.
Dogs None
No need to stress about the dog either. Gazania isn't poisonous to them, so a mouthful grabbed from the bed is no big deal.
Horses Safe
A horse grazing nearby is totally fine, because there's nothing in the plant that would upset it.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can munch the leaves all they like without any risk.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep can hang out near it no problem, since nothing in the plant is toxic to them.
Birds Safe
Birds pecking at the seeds or petals? They're in no danger from it at all.
People Safe
It's easy to have around kids. Nobody grows it to eat, but a stray taste won't cause any trouble.
Varieties
Most of the gazanias you'll run into come from a handful of breeding lines, sorted out by how early they bloom, how they're colored, and what the leaves look like. Here are the ones worth knowing by name.
Daybreak series (e.g. Daybreak Bright Yellow)
It's a compact bedding type whose flowers open up earlier in the morning and stay open longer than the older kinds.
New Day Tiger Mix
This early-flowering F1 mix brings bold striped, two-tone blooms, though it's a bit more prone to Phytophthora root and stem rot than most.
Talent series (e.g. Talent Orange)
It's grown as much for its silvery-gray leaves as its flowers, which keep opening even when the light's on the weaker side.
How to propagate
Gazania's an easy one to multiply, whether you start a fresh batch from seed each spring or keep a favorite going by dividing it.
SeedEasy
Start indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost; transplant outdoors after frost · Several weeks to form an established plant after transplanting
Seed's the go-to way to raise gazania for bedding, and it's simple enough. Start it indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, pop the seedlings outside once the cold's behind you, and give them a few weeks in the ground to grow into solid, established plants.
DivisionEasy
Take basal offsets in late summer to early fall and root them · A few weeks to root and establish
Want to hold onto a plant you love or a named cultivar over winter? Division's the way. Lift the basal offsets in late summer or early fall, root them indoors, and in a few weeks they take hold, ready to carry that same plant into next year.
Myths
Gazania needs frequent watering like most annuals.
Once it's settled in, gazania needs way less water than your average annual and doesn't mind a dry stretch. Too much water is the actual problem, because soggy soil rots the roots and crown from the bottom up.
Gazania flowers stay open around the clock.
The blooms follow the sun, closing up at night and on gray, cloudy days. They only open all the way in bright light, so a shady spot or a run of dull weather will leave them looking shut for a good while.