I planted these in the vegie patch to attract bees yet the flowers have taken me straight back to the daisy bushes Nanna Francesca grew in her front garden. She often had us stand in front of those daisy bushes for photos and from the 1950s on, we have decades of family photos taken with the daisies. (I’m guessing I’m not the only one who has old photos taken in front of a certain plant or tree in a family garden over the years!) While those daisies are long gone now, I love how daisies will forever remind me of Nanna Francesca. (I also couldn’t resist including the photo of Bisnonno Vitale watering their front garden back when three generations of the family all lived in the house on Brunswick Street.)
In Italian, the word for daisy is margherita, the name of so many women in Italy. Daisies are also said to symbolise hope and new beginnings and in Old English were called ‘day’s eye’ because at night the petals close over the yellow centre and open again to the daylight. I’ve found out too daisies can be medicinal as well as eaten, wild daisy tea used to treat coughs and bronchitis and their leaves added to salads. So, by chance, it seems fitting that I planted one in the vegie patch after all. (And if you look closely at the single flower, the bees have been visiting and left little pollen footprints.) Buona giornata! 💛🌼🌿
Zoë Boccabella 