Gazania ‘Aztec Orange’

Gazania rigens 'Aztec Orange'

There are many different cultivars of this flower and so choose the one that you like. Gazania is small and clumping, but it does also spread to create a ground cover if that’s what you’d like it to do. It is perennial and sometimes evergreen here in our landscape which makes it a nice winter feature. It is native to Southern Africa but it’s not invasive here and it’s very easy to find in nurseries. It likes full sun but it can also take light shade. It does prefer well-drained soil but it’s tolerant of other soils. If you have a heavy clay soil, it would be good to amend your beds to improve drainage.

It’s also very drought tolerant but it does like a little more water in the heat of summer. However, be careful about overwatering. It has an underground stem, and with too much water, the stem will rot and the crown will die back.

It blooms from to spring fall and attracts butterflies. The flowers close at night and open again the next day. This plant virtually has no insects or diseases. It doesn’t require much fertilizer. In fact, I wouldn’t fertilize them at all.

Space them about twelve inches apart if you want them to clump and be a single flower and 4 to 6 inches apart if you want them to spread together and be more of a ground cover.