Blue Marguerite

Afrikaans name: Bloumargriet

Blue Marguerite

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Felicia amelloides

The beautiful Blue Marguerite takes the form of a small shrub with masses of its beautiful lilac flowers with yellow centres. It is a very popular garden plant as it is also hardy and frost tolerant.

Its natural range is along the southern coastal belt of South Africa from around Humansdorp to Port Alfred. It is only found up to an altitude of 1,000 metres. It can be found in a variety of habitats and soils from sandy areas to rocky outcrops and hillsides.

It is normally a perennial plant that grows into a shrub 50 cm to 1 metre high, with the lower end of that range being the norm. The leaves are two-tone being a darker green on top and lighter green underneath. The mauve flowers appear on stalks of around 18 cm in length. In its natural habitat is during summer but, in gardens in other parts of South Africa, it can flower all year round.

The Blue Marguerite attracts a lot of insects which is another good reason to grow them in your garden. Honeybees will be regular visitors to them when they are in flower.

It seems to me that there is some confusion between this species, Felicia amelloides, and Felicia bergeriana which is an annual plant. Some publications appear to mix the two species up.

References and further reading

What Flower is That? Summer - Author: Hazel Stokes - Published: 1971 - Page: 41

Indigenous Garden Plants of Southern Africa - Author: Glenice Ebedes - Published: 2017 - Page: 137

The Gardener - 2017/08 - Author: - Published: 2017 - Page: 23

The Gardener - 2004/11 - Author: - Published: 2004 - Page: 7

Indigenous Beginnings - Author: Anneke Kearney - Published: 2008 - Page: 115

Eastern Cape Veld Flowers - 2nd edition - Author: Eily Gledhill - Published: 1981 - Page: 222

Illustrated Guide to the Game Parks and Nature Reserves of SA - 2nd edn - Author: Readers Digest - Published: 1991 - Page: 397

SANBI - PlantzAfrica

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