The Incredible Montauk Daisy

I remember asking my wife, "Have we had an unusual summer or fall? That looks like a daisy that's blossoming." I had to investigate.

The Montauk Daisy is a late summer and fall blooming perennial. The plants that I saw are mature, five-feet wide and possibly three-feet tall. The flowers are roughly the size as the more familiar Shasta Daisy. The leaves have the same vein structure but they are thicker and more shiny, like a sedum.

I did some internet research. Originally from Japan and China, the Montauk Daisies are named after Montauk, New York, a town on Long Island approximately 110 miles east of New York City. In Montauk, they have naturalized and are now very common. They are not as common in upstate New York but they should be.

These simple but hardy perennials offer roughly the same bloom cycle as chrysanthemums, first opening in late summer and continuing until the first hard freeze. That could easily mean two months of flowering or possibly more.

When I took the above photo yesterday, October 31st, I was surprised that none of the petals reveal insect damage or other signs of deterioration. Unlike the mums that often start looking brown by this time of year, none of them revealed that same dieback problem. If you look again at the photo, you will see that all of the petals have remained clear white.

To me, the daisies are a symbolic representation of hope and simplicity – what we currently endure will have its season for the Lord will simply take care of us. That is trust, for hope and trust belong together.

I don't know what you are going through – for some I am sure it is not easy. But what I do know is that Jesus already knows whether you've been praying or not. If you are a believer in Him, then He is within you and wants to take you through this period in your life. It's as simple as a daisy yet as beautiful as all of creation. That is your hope.

A Daisy-Like Flower Bed in Memory of Gino

I must admit that I am not much of a fan of the color yellow in a meditative garden. Long and hard I have put off the urging of others to add yellow to our otherwise softer colors of pink, purple, white, blue, red, etc. To me, if we are to be listening for the voice of God, we should be still, or as least not excited – and that is what yellow can do, excite us, or at least it excites my thoughts.

I have a number of yellow flowers around my house, and we have yellow potentilla and yellow lilies around the church building, but not so much in the Prayer Garden. Even when I selected daisies for the garden two years ago, I purchased the shaggy ones that don't have a yellow center. I'm not against yellow per se, I just want us to have that experience with the Lord.

But this year it has changed. Thanks to a $125 donation to the garden in memory of a man named Gino, his mother and I both felt that it would be best to remember him with daisies. Actually we planted a daisy-like bed that includes various types of daisies as well as other flowers such as white coneflowers, light yellow coreopsis, spurge, and a dash of Gaillardia (blanket flower).

Then a $50 donation came in for some yellow roses, and these were planted adjacent to the daisy-like bed. I selected the light colored yellow 'Knock Out' rose that is very disease resistant. Due to the summer heat, all of the flowers had died off at the nursery where I purchased them. Yesterday I noticed that one new bud has just opened and the colors go very well with the various white and yellow flowers in the adjacent bed.

I can't explain why I have now allowed yellow when I was so fanatical in other years. This newest bed is in an area that is somewhat isolated from the rest of the garden, and is visible from only one of the benches. Yet there is enough white in this flower bed along with softer yellow tones that the combined daisies and roses look very good. Will it disrupt hearing God's voice or sensing His peace and love? I don't know, but time will tell.

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.