Plant Finder

Moana Nursery High Desert Plant Finder & Guide

Group/Class:  Ostica Series

Description:

This gorgeous early flowering, compact-mounded variety showcases elegant dark purple blooms with indigo eyes; excellent for hanging baskets, containers and fresh cut arrangements; heat and cold tolerant; deadhead for new growth

Ornamental Features

Ostica™ Midnight Osteospermum features showy deep purple daisy flowers with indigo eyes at the ends of the stems from late spring to mid fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Ostica™ Midnight Osteospermum is an herbaceous annual with a mounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Ostica™ Midnight Osteospermum is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Ostica™ Midnight Osteospermum will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. This fast-growing annual will normally live for one full growing season, needing replacement the following year.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Ostica™ Midnight Osteospermum is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.