I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we eagerly anticipate the first perennials to bloom in the garden each spring. Finding these early blooming flowers is not only an exciting adventure but also a long awaited reward as we look forward to seeing them bloom again the following year. However, since most of the time you can’t get your hands on these early bloomers until after they’ve already bloomed, it’s easy to miss some of the most extraordinary flowers when garden centers first open. One such remarkable flower is the Easter Daisy, also known as Townsend’s Daisy.

The Townsend Daisy (Townsendia spp.) is a lovely daisy in the Asteraceae family that blooms early in the Rocky Mountain regions. These beauties typically bloom between April and May (hence the name Easter Daisy) and sometimes even earlier. The plants also sporadically bloom throughout the season. In fact, what inspired me to write this post was a Townsendia I spotted blooming in my rock garden on December 15th (I was shocked)! I guess you could say we’ve had a pretty mild fall, to say the least. However, during the blooming season, these small yet stunning flowers put on a wonderful show!

The Townsend Daisy is native to North America and has several varieties that grow across the rocky slopes of the Rocky Mountains. One of my absolute favorites is Townsendia parryi. These plants are generally short-lived perennials, with some even considered annuals. The good news is that they readily reseed without becoming overly invasive, which, in my opinion, is the perfect balance. Plus, since they are small, they won’t overcrowd your other plants! These daisies make great additions to small nooks and crannies in the garden, which is why they are commonly used in crevice gardens and troughs.

Another great feature of Townsend Daisies is that they are fairly drought tolerant and don’t require much supplemental watering at least for the varieties I’ve tried in my garden. To date, I’ve grown Townsendia parryi, T. grandiflora, T. rothrockii, and T. hookeri. So far, I’ve had decent success with all of them. In fact, despite being a short-lived perennial, my T. parryi is going into its third season if it survives this winter. I’ve yet to see any of my varieties grow in unirrigated spots of the garden, though I haven’t specifically tried planting or seeding them there either. There are also several other varieties native to the southwestern United States, which you can find here. Below is the range of Townsendia spp. in the United States.

There is one downside to this spectacular plant, though. It’s not commonly sold at nurseries, so you’ll need to either grow it from seed or find it through local gardening clubs or specialty nurseries. On the bright side, it’s easily grown from seed and can be found online through several sellers.

So, I encourage you to give this wonderful plant a try and see how it performs in your garden! It’s definitely a plant that won’t disappoint when it goes into full bloom!