Straggler daisy feeds the pollinators
I first learned about straggler daisy (Calyptocarpus vialis) in a native plants class before I lived in this house. I had a tiny patch in the yard, and I tended it with care. Little did I know that this hardy plant does not need kid gloves.
[Picture: Gulf fritillary butterfly feeding on straggler daisy flowers]
Straggler daisy is a very common plant in the yards and fields of Central Texas. In this house, after I removed the poison ivy and hedge parsley, it filled all the gaps without St. Augustine grass. Successive droughts drove the St. Augustine into tiny patches, and the straggler daisy took over.
It's a wonderful groundcover. Its growing habit leads to mounds of greenery, never more than three inches tall. Quite acceptable in my no lawnmower yard. And among all that green are tiny yellow flowers that attract pollinators. A green lawn that feeds the wildlife, what more could you ask for?
Straggler daisy is durable and can take foot traffic. I've noticed that in lawns where it is cut, it doesn't do well in drought, dying back to an ugly black. However, if it is left alone, it survives drought fairly well - a greenish lawn without rain or watering!
It has an almost ebullient method of growing. Each tiny flower produces an abundance of seeds, and these seeds easily germinate to produce a carpet of new plants after a rain. In addition, its straggling limbs reach out, weave over one another and root at every node. If it does die back in a drought, the first rain will bring out new plants to create a whole new lawn.
Of course, all that vitality has a flip side. What makes it an excellent groundcover makes it a pernicious weed in the vegetable garden. I try to keep it out. It sometimes competes with the bluebonnets. No, bad daisy! It can also get overly exuberant and climb into other plants like lantana. Then I have to play yard manager and pull it back.
But overall, straggler daisy is a very well-behaved and beautiful member of my little yard ecosystem.
