Gerbera daisies are bright and cheerful flowers with irresistible charm. They are a genus of plants in the Asteraceae family, more commonly known as daisies. Gerbera are native to tropical regions of Africa, South America, and Asia and were named after botanist Dr. Traugott Gerber and their discoverer, Scotsman Robert Jameson: “Gerbera jamesonii.” The Gerbera daisy was discovered in 1884 near Barberton, South Africa by Jameson. The first scientific description of a Gerbera was found in “Curtis’s Botanical Magazine” in 1889.
The flower head, or capitulum, of a Gerbera daisy is eye-catching with ray florets in shades of either red, white, cream, pink, orange, peach, purple, or yellow. Thousands of cultivars exist, and the petals can be a single color or several different colors. The center eye of the bloom is also available in multiple colors, with green, cream, or dark brown being most common. Gerbera can be as small as 2.5 inches, or as large as 5 inches.
Fun fact: the flower head of a Gerbera daisy appears to be a single flower, however it is actually composed of hundreds of individual flowers!
Their unmistakable beauty isn’t the only reason for their popularity. The sturdy stems and large showy flowers of Gerbera daisies make them the ideal cut flower. With a vase life often lasting up to 10 days, they are also one of the longest lasting cut flowers and their year-round availability and affordable price makes them even more attractive.
Gerbera daisies are the fifth most used cut flower in the world. In arrangements and floral designs they are versatile and eye-catching blooms. They are suitable for many different occasions, including birthday, thank you, get well, congratulations, and of course event work. They can mean innocence, purity, and cheerfulness. Cut Gerbera daisies are grown mostly in Canada, California, South America, and Holland. We keep our coolers well stocked with these beauties!
Care & Handling
- Cut about 1” off the stems and place immediately in a clean vase with room temperature water.
- Ensure that the water is treated with gerbera preservative solution. The key to long gerbera life is keeping them bacteria free.
- Display gerberas in a cool location away from heat sources, air conditioners, drafts, direct sunlight, and fruit.
- For optimum vase life, repeat step one every three days.
