The evolution of Shasta daisies, Leucanthemum, began with the American pioneer of plant breeding, Luther Burbank. Said to have introduced about 800 different new plant varieties, including the first thornless blackberry, he worked for many years developing these large-flowered, golden-eyed white daisies and named them Shasta daisies for the snow-topped peak of northern California’s Mount Shasta.
Burbank introduced his first Shasta daisy in 1901 and, since then, more and more varieties have been developed on both sides of the Atlantic, and the best offered to American gardeners.
