The Daisy Bellis perennis is usually dismissed as a lawn weed, but here it is one of the earliest and most important of the machair¹ wildflowers. It is one of the few food sources on the machair for the early emerging Bumblebees. For the technically minded it is one of the indicative plants (along with Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculis acris) of dry machair.
The daisies have just started to flower and in a week or so the machair will turn white as they burst into bloom. In my garden it dominates the grass, where it is welcome, and is a persistent thug everywhere else.
For more Wildflower Wednesday posts please visit Gail’s blog
¹ For a description please refer to UK Biodiversity Action Plan; Priority Habitat Descriptions: Machair
Croft Garden 
I had never heard of a machair. Although a much colder climate here in Oakville Ontario – see that you’re located at 57 degrees latitude – I’m at 43. Adore visiting northern gardens to see how the sequence of blooms differs from mine. The cacophony of colour is brilliant.
Welcome. Machair is a bit like prairie except that it’s coastal and the vegetation is much shorter, but equally as beautiful when in bloom.
Christine daisies are my favourite flowers in all sizes, I have lots around my garden and leave most be, I also have meadow buttercup hmm is my garden not as damp as I think it is (not asking), we don’t have much Machair here, Frances
Machair is a Gaelic word, I think it is the Gaelic word for prairie or something very similar, Frances
That is a pretty little daisy. I think it would be a great “welcomer” to Spring in any garden. Jack
I love the machair! It’s an amazing combination of really neat and really wild. When does it really peak, would you say?
I learn so much from your blog. I was not aware of the term machair.
You have so many challenges and manage them all quite well.
What a sweet little daisy!
And you have added a word to my vocabulary – Machair!
Happy gardening!
Lea
Lea’s Menagerie
Machair flowering begins with the daisy explosion in April, peaks in June and it is all over by mid August! Through the season there is an amazing colour change as the different groups of plants dominate the grassland. I’ll post some photographs as the year progresses.
I always have mixed feelings when removing Daisies from the vegetable beds, its like stealing from the bees! Unfortunately they have to go – not to the compost but they get repatriated outside the garden wall.
According to Scottish Natural Heritage machair is the Gaelic for “extensive, low-lying fertile plain” but I think you’re nearer the mark.
Looking at other northern gardens I’m beginning to realise how mild our climate is for the latitude.
I adore these sweet daisies but found they do not like my NY garden for more than a year…so sad but they look beautiful where you are!
I’m sure you have many other lovely plants that it would be impossible to grow here. Sometimes it is the very simple flowers which shine
I too love bellis, they are unstoppably cheerful.
Great to see you on facebook, I love that more and more bloggers are starting pages.
I think starting a facebook page was more of a challenge that the blog. I’m still struggling with it, but I hope that it willintroduce more people to the wonderful world of garden blogging
Very nice! When we were in TX, my husband would always weed out this little plant with tiny yellow flowers b/c he thought it a weed. But then, I”d notice that by midsummer, nothing else would grow in that spot. I finally convinced him to let it grow, and then later learned it was called horseherb, which is a native groundcover!
Bellis, normally I plant the more colourful varieties for a Spring display. I have been guilty of underestimating the value of indigenous plants of our country, thank you for the introduction to Scotia plants..
There’s always room for a live native gem.
I often turn to native plants to help me out in the more difficult areas of the garden.