Grow and Care for Golden Euryops

Grow golden euryops in full sun on soil that drains. Golden euryops is Euryops pectinatus, also sold as golden shrub daisy. It is not African daisy, and a Florida bush-daisy tag is often a different shrub.

Give it full sun and soil that drains

Golden euryops wants full sun and a hole that dries after rain. A little shade is tolerated, but the yellow daisies thin out. Water a new shrub through the first dry weeks, then ease off; an established plant takes missed water better than soggy ground. [1] Golden Euryops is a bushy evergreen shrub about 3 to 6 feet tall and wide, with finely divided gray-green leaves and yellow daisy flowers on long stalks almost year-round in a mild climate. [2] Once the roots are in, skip extra summer water as long as the soil still drains. Wet soil around the roots is the primary cause of root rot. Wood holds to about 20°F; tip growth can burn below about 25°F, so site it out of a frost pocket.

Plant a nursery shrub in spring, or when you can water

Set a nursery plant while you can still water it through the first weeks. In a frost-prone garden, plant in spring after the last hard frost. In a frost-free climate, plant on any day you can water the first weeks. Slide the root ball out and set the crown at the same depth it sat in the pot, in soil that drains.

1. Plant in spring after frost, or on a watered day in a frost-free climate.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball. Set the crown at the same depth it sat in the pot. Do not bury it.
3. Backfill with the soil you dug, as long as it already drains. Do not drop the shrub into a wet, rich hole.
4. Water it in. Water again when the soil under a thin mulch is almost dry, until new growth shows, then ease off.
5. Keep mulch off the crown.

Grow it in a pot that drains

A pot with a drainage hole can hold this shrub on a sunny patio. Use a loam-based potting mix with sharp sand, not garden soil, and empty the saucer after you water. Keep the pot outdoors in full sun. In a cold winter, move it under glass or onto a bright, frost-free porch. This is not a windowsill houseplant. [3]

1. Choose a pot with a drainage hole, and fill it with loam-based potting mix plus sharp sand.
2. Set the crown at mix level, water it in, and do not leave the pot in a saucer of water.
3. Keep it outdoors in sun. Move it under glass only if a hard frost is coming; do not grow it as a houseplant.

Deadhead, then tip-prune in summer

Clip off spent flower heads so the next flush can open. Then tip the new growth in summer so the shrub stays dense. The branches snap, so cut with pruners instead of forcing a thick stem sideways. Every few years in late spring or summer, cut an old, open plant back hard, or replace it; the inner wood is often bare under the leafy shell. [4]

1. Clip spent yellow heads as they fade, down to a leaf.
2. In summer, tip the new shoots so the shrub stays bushy. Support a brittle stem with your other hand as you cut.
3. Every few years, cut an old plant back hard in late spring or summer, or replace it. Do not leave a permanently leggy shell of bare wood.

Start a new plant from a cutting or from seed

A softwood cutting in late spring, or a semi-hardwood cutting in summer, roots readily in washed river sand or another mix that drains. Seed sown in spring at a warm indoor temperature is the slower home method. Keep either method out of standing water.

1. Take a softwood cutting in late spring, or a semi-hardwood cutting in summer. Strip the lower leaves and stick the cut end in washed river sand or a mix that drains.
2. Keep the mix barely moist until roots form, then pot it on and grow it in sun.
3. To sow, sow seed in spring at about 50 to 55°F. Move seedlings to a small pot once they handle, and do not let the mix stay soggy.

Not African daisy — and not African bush daisy

African daisy is Osteospermum, a lower bedding plant grown for mixed petal colors. If the tag says osteospermum, cape daisy, or a tray of mixed African daisies, read How to Grow African Daisy. Golden euryops is a woody South African shrub with ferny gray-green leaves and yellow daisies on long stalks.

A Florida bush-daisy or African bush daisy tag is often Euryops chrysanthemoides, a looser shrub that reseeds freely. That species is not the plant here. A daisy bush in a catalog is often Olearia, with white or pale flowers, not this yellow shrub. Marguerite daisy is Argyranthemum — see How to Grow Marguerite Daisy. Golden marguerite is Anthemis — see How to Grow Golden Marguerite. Shasta daisy and English daisy are herbaceous plants, not this evergreen shrub — see How to Grow Shasta Daisy and How to Grow English Daisy. Confirm the Latin on the tag is Euryops pectinatus.

If the hole stays wet after rain, move the shrub to a mound that drains, and skip extra water once the roots are in.