What gardeners are growing right now — and the one natural change making the difference
There is a moment in every gardener's summer when a plant just stops you in your tracks. You walk past, glance down, and suddenly you're standing there staring at something that genuinely takes your breath away.
That happened to us this June with our Osteospermum — African Daisies, if you prefer to keep things simple.
Cascades of lilac, white and purple blooms, faces turned toward the sun, doing exactly what a summer garden flower is supposed to do. And honestly, we can't stop looking at them.
What Actually Is an Osteospermum?
You might know them as African Daisies or Cape Daisies — the common names for Osteospermum, a genus of flowering plants native to southern Africa. They're a firm favourite in UK gardens for good reason: bold, prolific and available in a colour palette that runs from pure white to deep violet, with all manner of lilac and purple variations in between.
They thrive in full sun, prefer well-drained soil, and once they get going in early summer they're incredibly generous. Deadhead regularly and they'll keep flowering well into autumn.
What makes them particularly rewarding is how visible the results are. When an Osteospermum is well nourished and happy, you know about it. The blooms are bigger, the colours are richer, and the plant has a robustness to it that you simply don't see when it's been neglected or underfed.
What We Changed — and What Happened Next
We made one change to how we feed our African Daisies this season: we switched to a 100% natural microalgae-based liquid plant feed and dropped everything else.
No synthetic feed, no chemical top-up. Just Northern Algae Natural Algae Plant Booster, applied every two to three weeks through the growing season.
The results are what you can see in the photo.
There's a reason microalgae works so well as a plant feed. It's one of nature's most nutrient-dense organisms — packed with proteins, polysaccharides and lipids that plants can absorb rapidly and use directly. Unlike conventional fertilisers that tend to deliver a single nutrient hit, an algae-based feed supports whole-plant health: root development, resilience to stress, improved soil structure and vigorous above-ground growth.
Healthy roots lead to healthy plants. Healthy plants produce better flowers. And better flowers mean a garden that makes you stop and stare.
The Wildlife Bonus Nobody Mentions
One thing we didn't engineer was the bees.
African Daisies are excellent pollinator plants, and ours are proving it. Bumblebees in particular seem to love the open disc-style flowers, which give easy access to pollen and nectar without having to fight their way in.
If you're thinking about adding pollinator-friendly plants to your garden this season, Osteospermum should be near the top of the list. They bloom at exactly the right time to support bees through the height of summer — and a well-fed plant produces far more blooms for far longer, which means more food for your garden's wildlife too.
It's one of those quiet wins that comes from gardening naturally. You're not just feeding your plants. You're feeding your whole garden ecosystem.
Why Natural Feeding Produces Results You Can Actually See
We hear from gardeners regularly who've made the switch from synthetic feeds to natural alternatives and been surprised by the difference — not just in plant health, but in how the garden feels overall. Less harsh, more balanced, results that seem to build year on year rather than delivering a short spike and then tailing off.
Synthetic fertilisers can deliver fast results, but they often come with trade-offs: salt build-up in the soil, disruption to the microbial life that healthy soil depends on, concerns around run-off, and the nagging question of what you're actually putting on plants in a space where children, pets and wildlife all spend time.
Natural microalgae-based feeds are different. Sustainably sourced, pet safe, vegan friendly — and in the case of Northern Algae, produced using a process that actually captures CO2 while growing the microalgae. So every feed is a net positive for the environment, not just for your plants.
For a flower garden that people and wildlife actually use, that matters more than most gardeners initially realise.
How to Grow African Daisies in a UK Garden
If you haven't grown Osteospermum before, they're one of the most rewarding and low-effort choices for a summer border or container.
Getting started: Available at most garden centres from April onwards. Choose compact varieties for containers, taller ones for borders.
Sun and soil: Full sun is essential — they close up in shade and won't flower well. Well-drained soil or compost is a must; they dislike sitting wet.
Feeding: Apply a natural liquid feed every two to three weeks from late spring. Consistent, gentle feeding produces better long-term results than occasional heavy doses.
Deadheading: Remove spent blooms regularly to keep new flowers coming. This is the single biggest thing you can do to extend the flowering season.
Overwintering: In most parts of the UK, treat them as annuals or bring them under cover in autumn — they're not reliably frost hardy outdoors.
What's Your Favourite Summer Flower?
Every gardener has one — the plant they look forward to most, the one that defines their summer. For us right now, it's undeniably these African Daisies.
We'd genuinely love to know yours. Drop it in the comments below — whether it's lavender, sweet peas, dahlias, roses or something more unusual. The best gardens are full of conversations.
Northern Algae produces 100% natural, microalgae-based plant nutrition. Find us at www.northernalgae.com or follow along on Instagram and Facebook @northernalgae.