This is a Painted Daisy, Chrysanthemum coccineum. It is on my top 5 favorite perennial plants in my garden. The foliage is lacy, fern-like. And the flowers grow along a tall slender stalk that is delicate enough to wave effortlessly when the wind blows, but strong enough to remain standing after the gusty Chicago winds.
The flower heads contain pyrethrum insecticidal substances, so plant them as companions along side veggies with bug problems. These plants are thought to repel aphids, spider mites, cabbage worms and a whole host of other garden pests.
OH Dude!!!!!!!!! This is the random flower that we found in a place where we spread one of those packets of random "wildflower" seeds and that Nick subsequently destroyed (the flower not the hole plant) while weeding. Oh yay! now I know what it is!
ReplyDelete