Bidens, like gold in garden

Bidens is a magnificent perennial of the aster family with gold flowers.

Key facts about Bidens

Name – Bidens
Family – Asteraceae
Type – perennial

Height – 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm)
Exposure – full sun

Soil: drained, lots of humus  –  Foliage: evergreen  –  Flowering: spring → fall

Planting bidens

Advice on planting bidens

This is preferably done in spring. You may also plant in fall if winters in your region are reliably mild.

Take note that the plant is frost-vulnerable though, it dies under 40°F (5°C). It cannot survive temperatures that are lower than that.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be grown; it just means you’ll have to grow them like annuals, sowing new ones every year in spring.

• Space plants 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) apart.
• Choose a sun-bathed area that is also sheltered from wind since wind makes the air cooler.

Propagating your bidens

Propagation is easy through cuttings and sowing.

• Sow in a sheltered place. Do this starting at the end of winter or the beginning of spring. You’ll need a temperature of about 66°F (19°C) for sprouting to start, and it’ll take from 10 to 20 days.
• Prepare cuttings in summer.
• You can also easily divide the growing clump, it’s highly effective.

Pruning and caring for Bidens

Care is easy and you’ll only have to water in summer whenever dry spells and high temperatures extend for a lengthy amount of time.

Remove wilted flowers regularly often, this is called deadheading. This step helps stimulate the plant to produce new flowers.

• Winter is a time when you must protect your plant if you expect temperatures lower than 23°F (-5°C).

Watering your bidens and fertilizing them

Water only during days of high temperatures, and then again only if you notice the plant suffering due to lack of water.

To increase the blooming, add granulated organic flower plant fertilizer in spring.

Bidens after flowering

Bidens is a very interesting plant because its foliage is evergreen and it stays magnificent in winter, as long as it is being grown in a pot.

• Protect your potted bidens from freezing in a luminous room that doesn’t get any colder than 40°F (5°C).

When grown in the ground, your Bidens won’t survive the winter under our latitudes.

• Bidens, at best, will survive only short and light bouts of frost.
• Pull the plant out when the leaves have withered if you expect winter to get cold in your area.

All there is to know about bidens

Native to Mexico, this very cute short-lived perennial bears abundant flowers that are a luminous stark golden yellow color.

White-colored bidens also exist and they’re extremely ornamental, too. Grow them in exactly the same manner as you would yellow ones.

In its native environment, this plant can bloom from from fall to winter but you’ll have to wait for spring to see it bloom in our temperate climates.

Aside from that, the blooming period is very long since it starts in April and ends in October.

Vulnerable to freezing, it is often grown as an annual in colder regions.

Disease that impacts bidens

Since it isn’t a plant that is vulnerable to diseases and parasites, Bidens is a very resistant plant.

It does happen, however, that some specimens are sensitive to downy mildew.

• Here is how you can deal with downy mildew.