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Super Contributor
Posts: 394
Registered: ‎01-26-2014

The Roberta's guy just said that he thought Gerber daisies might be able to be grown in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

ALL of Michigan gets down to below zero during Winter.

Gerber daisies will NOT survive in the ground in Michigan.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

As is often the case, it depends. Gerbera daisies are moderately hardy and have survived here in Southern New Jersey for me in sheltered locations. If planted against a southern facing foundation wall and heavily mulched there's some chance that they'd survive in Michigan if the right microclimate existed. Plant them in the middle of a yard and fully exposed they'd die, but they "might" be able to be grown in Michigan in the right circumstances.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Super Contributor
Posts: 394
Registered: ‎01-26-2014

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

On 2/8/2015 gardenman said: As is often the case, it depends. Gerbera daisies are moderately hardy and have survived here in Southern New Jersey for me in sheltered locations. If planted against a southern facing foundation wall and heavily mulched there's some chance that they'd survive in Michigan if the right microclimate existed. Plant them in the middle of a yard and fully exposed they'd die, but they "might" be able to be grown in Michigan in the right circumstances.

Nice tips...Thanks!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,233
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

I had them on LI when I owned my house - in the south foundation bed. I just never raked the leaves off them until spring. Love their colorful, perky flowers.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

Here on LI, they are considered annuals that are a little more expensive than impatiens or begonias. I had a bunch planted in among a lamppost planter and while they look quite nice, they do NOT rebloom if you remove their spent flowers. So if you want color all summer long, this is NOT a plant I would purchase.

Surviving in Michigan-- yes, when I see unicorns & fairy dust out of their you know what!Wink

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

OOOOHHH!!! So pixie dust comes out of the "you know what's" of Unicorns! I never knew that!

Back to the question at hand though, you can grow pretty much anything, anywhere if you take lots (and I mean lots) of precautions. On one of Kathy Renwald's shows from Canada she interviewed a family that grew their own olives (a Mediterranean variety) that were not remotely hardy in Canada. Each fall (once the trees had gone dormant) they would dig long trenches alongside the trees, tie the branches together, then winch the trees down into the trenches, bury them with leaves, mulch and soil (three to four feet deep) and then plastic and more mulch over the plastic. This kept the plants at/around 50 degrees all winter despite sub-zero air temperatures. In the spring they would remove everything, winch the trees back upright, stake them in place and the trees would take off and grow like they'd never been buried. That's a tick extreme for most gardeners, but they were able to grow plants that were absolutely not hardy in Canada by doing so.

The southern foundation wall of most homes (especially those with poor insulation and a heated basement) can often cheat a plant two or more zones further north than most will tell you they can grow. Add a thick dark mulch and you can cheat plants even further north. The top growth will die off, but the crown of the plant is likely to survive, especially if the soil is well drained. The heat coming from that foundation wall can keep the soil significantly warmer than soil just a few feet further away. Southern facing masonry walls will also absorb significant heat from any sunshine and dramatically improve a plant's chances of survival.

I've had Gerbera daisies survive in a pot here (southern NJ) with minimal protection, so if they survive in a pot here then chances are they'd have some shot at surviving in Michigan if in the ideal situation. To quote the rep from Roberta's, "They may be able to grow in Kalamazoo, Michigan" if certain conditions are met. I certainly wouldn't call them hardy in Michigan, but they may be able to survive if everything went right. I certainly wouldn't count on it, but I couldn't rule it out.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,752
Registered: ‎03-15-2014

Re: Gerber daisies in Michigan?

Normal Gerberas wouldn't survive Michigan winters but Roberta's might. They're said to be hardy, good for USDA zones 6 through 11. Kalamazoo looks to be on the edge between zones 6 and 5, so I'd give them a 50-50 chance. Normal Gerberas would have a 0% chance.