The Many Faces of Gazania

On the heels of all those blooms, here are some more. This is one of my favorite annuals and one that's super easy to grow from seed. The first year I had gazanias (2005), I bought the young plants at a local plant center. I let some of them go to seed and I saved it for the following year.

This year, I wanted to try some different varieties than the 'Kiss Mix' I'd grown the first and second years, so instead of saving last year's seed, I bought three new varieties from Park Seed: 'Sunshine Mix', 'Daybreak Petticoat Mix', and 'Dynastar Vanilla Ice'.

All three of these were slower to produce flowers than the 'Kiss Mix' seeds did, but grew into thick, healthy plants with the characteristic abstract-patterned blooms. It's downright fun to watch what new pattern is going to emerge with each new blossom. You just never know for sure . . .

And from 2006's 'Kiss Mix' . . .

Gazanias are quite frost-resistant, I've found. Until we get below-freezing temperatures at night on a regular basis, they'll likely keep blooming. Last winter, I dug up the green plants and potted them so I could keep them a while longer up on the patio. They remained green pretty much throughout the winter, much to my amazement.

Somewhere close to spring, I noticed most of the gazanias in the pot had died, which is what I expected would happen. But much to my amazement, one of them was still alive! I began to care for it by making sure it got the water and sun it needed and it began to grow again. Several weeks later, it put out a flower bud. But something wasn't quite right about it.

When the bud opened, I realized the plant I'd been caring for so attentively was not a gazania after all. It was a Taraxacum officinale. A dandelion.