Growing Osteospermum: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026

Two different plants are sold as African daisy, and knowing which you have decides how you treat it.

Which African daisy is this

Osteospermum is the one sold as a nursery plant, a South African subshrub that reaches around three feet in mild climates. Our African daisy entry is Dimorphotheca sinuata, the annual sold on seed racks. If you bought a packet, it is probably the annual. If you bought a plant in a pot, it is probably this.

Flowers close at night

Both share the habit of shutting their petals at night and in dull weather. It is normal, and it is the reason the plant looks worst on exactly the grey days you wanted colour.

Hardy only where winters are mild

It overwinters where temperatures stay above roughly 14 to 23°F, so for most gardeners it is a one-season plant. It also pauses through the hottest part of summer and picks up again as autumn cools.

A note on sourcing: the figures here come from a university plant library rather than an extension service, so treat the size and hardiness numbers as indicative rather than precise.

Source: Arizona State University plant library, Osteospermum.

Companion planting guide for Osteospermum · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 4-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. Osteospermum needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Osteospermum plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-3 ft.

Where to buy osteospermum seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing osteospermum" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Osteospermum: The perennial African daisy of the nursery trade, distinct from the annual one sold on seed racks.

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