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The very extensive range of varieties coupled with the fact that Cape daisies are one of the hardiest bedding plants, has led to the plant now being one of the most popular bedding plants. Cape daisies are not winter hardy, but they will flower outdoors right until the frosts set in.
You can get the most out of your Cape daisies by buying plants with lots of buds and relatively few open flowers. The earlier you can plant them out, the more flowers will develop over the summer. Only buy good-quality bedding plants that have been well-watered and not been allowed to dry out. These will then develop into the most attractive and healthiest plants over the summer.
Find a sunny warm spot in a sheltered part of the bed. Dig the bed over well and clear the ground of weeds.
Set out your Osteospermums on top of the soil to create the colour pattern that you want. Use 6-8 plants per square metre; this will allow the plants to bush up together and completely cover the soil over the course of the summer. Dig a hole for each plant, put it in, and press the soil down well around the plant. After planting give the soil a thorough watering.
For the first month after the plants have been planted out they should be watered twice a week, and garden fertiliser added every two weeks. After this time, the plants no longer require watering or fertiliser.
If the summer turns out to be very hot and dry, or your plants are planted out in dry, sandy soil, you may need to water them once or several times throughout the summer.
