What a florist actually means by daisies
In a flower catalogue the word daisy describes a silhouette rather than a species: white ray petals around a yellow centre. In practice the stems in the bucket are usually daisy form spray chrysanthemum or matricaria, and sometimes a narrow petalled gerbera.
This is not a sleight of hand. True field daisies collapse within a few days of cutting and shed on any journey worth making, so the trade grows and ships their hardier lookalikes instead.
Telling the three apart
Knowing which one you are buying answers the question of why one bunch lasted a fortnight and another gave up on Wednesday.
Daisy form chrysanthemum is the durable option. Two weeks is normal, the heads are firmly attached, and nothing drops on the table.
Matricaria carries many small heads on a branching stem. It is the airy one, closer to a filler than a feature, and a week is a fair expectation.
Gerbera daisies put one large head on a bare hollow stem. They photograph beautifully and are the fussiest of the three, wanting clean water and a shallow fill so the stem does not soften.
Scent differs too. Chrysanthemum and matricaria both carry a distinct green herbal smell. Gerbera has essentially none.
Building a bunch that works
A daisy bouquet lives on density rather than on shape. A loose armful looks unfinished, so the stems go in close together and get cut to a single length.
Foliage is the second decision. These plants carry a lot of their own leaves, and in a tight bunch that greenery rots quickly and spoils the water. Most of it comes off.
Quantity is the third. Individual heads are small next to a rose, so the count has to climb before the bouquet reads as a gift rather than a gesture. Nine stems look modest. Twenty five give the field effect people picture when they order.
A quick test for a daisy bouquet: if you can see the wall through it, there are not enough stems in it.
Who they suit
The tone is light and carries no obligation, which is the whole appeal. Daisies fit occasions where red roses would shout: a first date, a friend's good news, a discharge from a maternity ward, thanks to a teacher, an apology without theatre.
They also work as flowers for a home with children in it, because nothing about the bouquet is precious and it survives being moved five times in an evening.
For a summer delivery in Geneva, an early or late slot is worth choosing. Thin ray petals brown at the edges in heat, and an hour in a warm car shows on them sooner than it would on roses.
JFLOO keeps daisy bouquets as their own category. When ordering, ask which flower forms the base, chrysanthemum or matricaria. That answer sets both the vase life and how the bunch will look three days in.
