In the spotlight

Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

Undeniably showy, due to its corona of brilliant white ‘petals’ or ray florets, and much given to enjoying the company of its own kind, the ox-eye daisy (or moon daisy) is emblematic of this moment—when the last bluebells have faded, the birds are in full song and spring is racing on to greet the start of summer. Seen at its best in the soft, low-angled light at either end of the day, Leucanthemum vulgare forms rivers of white along verges where it is left unmown and sends its pristine sheets rippling across young meadows wherever its copious seeds have grown up unchallenged.

Each wiry stem bears a single flower, some 1 in–2 in across, the business end being its golden, central disc containing more than 100 tightly packed flowers, a nectar-rich magnet for hungry hoverflies, butterflies and bees. Native ox-eye daisies are increasingly popular components of laissez-faire garden plantings, enhancing unmown areas of turf, continuing in bloom through June and into July.