Elaine,
I have read repeatedly that Chamomile tea acts as a mild fungicide and helps prevent damp-off, but this is the first time I have used it. I used it on most all my pot-sown seed this spring. Since damp-off is generally a problem with small, newly-sprouted seedlings, it was quite a surprise at the difference it has made when the Livingstone Daisy plants were well beyond that, but I figured, what did I have to lose?
I purchased my seed from Swallowtail Garden Seeds. A little plug, as I have always had good luck with their seed. This was in spring of 2011. I have tried every spring and fall since, except I missed last fall.
I agree with you on the concept of pushing zones, which I do regularly. However, I really question the 5b min. zone in the database. Livingstone Daisy originates from western coastal South Africa with temps much as we have here in SW Florida. Apparently a short-lived perennial there. The big difference is the humidity, as theirs is a Mediterranean climate rather than a subtropical one. (Maybe I should look for clues in that thought.) A USDA range of z9-10 or z10-11 is probably more like it.
Humidity hasn't hit yet, so we are much like a Mediterranean climate right now: hot and dry. In the research I have been doing over the past few hours, I'm wondering if what I need is more like a deep container for a long taproot, dry at the surface but more moist deeper down.
I just purchased more seed so I will be able to continue to experiment over the next couple years.
I do like your suggestion about getting things growing and blooming during the winter. This spring I set up a flower bed for my now 3-yr old granddaughter, who is really into butterflies and picking flowers for her mother and her grandmother. So now I have grown plants that never interested me before, such as Nasturtiums, Pansies, Violas, Snapdragons and Pinks. The Snapdragons and Pinks are still holding on, but the others have now crashed. I need to get a much earlier start this coming winter!
Ron
PS: Any more thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
