Daisy at the Shakespeare Garden
Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum
The daisy is a common name for more than 38 different flower species. The English daisy and the ox-eye daisy (or marguerite) are most likely the two varieties Shakespeare referenced in his plays, as they would have been most familiar to him. The English daisy is named from Roman mythology—Belides, a nymph who was turned into a field of tiny flowers by the gods. The Latin word bellus means "pretty." The ox-eye daisy, also known as the midsummer daisy in England and marguerite in France, blooms in midsummer and is associated with Mary Magdalene, giving rise to the term maudlin. This is most likely the daisy to which Shakespeare alludes in his works.
The daisy is associated with innocence, simplicity, and chastity. In Hamlet, Ophelia symbolically hands out flowers to others in the court but keeps the daisy for herself, finding no other innocent among them. In The Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare likens her bed to a garden and her white hand to a daisy.
The herbalist Gerard described the daisy’s medicinal qualities, stating it could relieve joint pain and gout, as well as treat fevers and intestinal inflammation.
Daisies are heliotropic, meaning they follow the sun, closing at night and reopening in the morning. They are herbaceous perennials, hardy in zones 4 through 8. Daisies prefer full sun to part shade, are not drought-tolerant, and thrive in rich, moist, well-drained soil. They will self-seed and are sometimes referred to as "lawn daisies."
Shakespeare references to daisy:
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Song of Spring
When daisies pied, and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white….
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Gertrude speaking:
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies,
And long purples…
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Her other faire hand was
On the green coverlet, whose perfect white
Show’d like an April daisy
On the grass……
