Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 39 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today · 1 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Chilean Matorral

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

18"

Habit

Upright clump-forming herbaceous perennial

Care tips

•

Give it full sun and sharp drainage — wet winter soil is the most common cause of loss.

•

Deadhead spent flowers to extend the bloom, and cut stems back to the basal leaves after flowering.

•

Divide clumps every 2-3 years; the plant is somewhat short-lived and division keeps it vigorous.

Lifecycle

Planting

Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Good soil drainage is essential — wet soils in winter can be fatal. Tolerates some light shade, particularly in hot summer climates or when grown in dryish soils.

Transplanting

Divide clumps as needed (every 2-3 years) to maintain vigor; plants are somewhat short-lived. Move and reset divisions in spring or fall.

Early growth

Water through the first season to establish. Remove spent flower heads to promote additional bloom.

Maturity

Mature clumps reach 2-3 feet tall with white-rayed, yellow-centered flower heads from July to September. Consider cutting stems back to the basal leaves after flowering to preserve plant energies and perhaps prolong plant life.

Propagation

Division is the standard garden-scale path; the straight hybrid can also be grown from seed, though named cultivars are propagated vegetatively.

Pollination

Self-fertile

Insect-pollinated: the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records Shasta daisy as attractive to butterflies, and the open, flat-faced composite flower heads are an accessible nectar and pollen source for a range of generalist bees and butterflies. As a garden hybrid it is most often propagated by division rather than seed, so its habitat value is chiefly as a midsummer nectar source.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Butterfly

Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Nectar forage

Fly

Hover flies (flower flies) (Syrphidae)

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

The open, flat-faced composite flower heads offer accessible nectar and pollen; honey bees are common generalist visitors to daisy-family blooms, though the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder documents only butterfly attraction explicitly.

Nectar forage

Bee

Common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)

Bumble bees readily work shallow, open composite flowers like Leucanthemum; a plausible generalist visitor during the July-September bloom, inferred from flower morphology rather than a source-documented record.

Nectar forage

Butterfly

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records Shasta daisy as attractive to butterflies; the flat, open flower heads are an accessible nectar platform for butterflies during the midsummer-to-fall bloom.

Pollen forage

Bee

Leafcutter bees (Megachile spp.)

Pollen forage

Bee

Long-horned bees (Melissodes spp.)

For people

Not eaten by humans

A clump-forming ornamental perennial grown for its showy white daisy flowers and as a long-lasting cut flower, not as a human food crop. The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists ornamental and cut-flower uses and no edible use.

Native range

AHS heat range

1-11

Climate notes

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Leucanthemum × superbum for USDA zones 5 to 9 in full sun with dry-to-medium water and low maintenance, tolerating drought, dry soil, rabbit, and deer.

•

Missouri Botanical Garden notes good soil drainage is essential — wet soils in winter can be fatal — and that the plants are somewhat short-lived, so divide every 2-3 years to maintain vigor.

•

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists a wider hardiness range of USDA zones 4a-9b and documents resistance to deer and drought, with butterfly attraction; it is a garden hybrid (Luther Burbank, 1890s) rather than a native species.

In the designer

Growth over time

24-36" tall · 18-24" spread

Mature 2-3 foot clump at full flower; divide every 2-3 years to maintain vigor.

Design roles: Border · Focal point · Pollinator · Container

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Shasta daisy

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations