Angelita Daisy
Tetraneuris acaulis
A one-foot evergreen clump that throws golden-yellow daisies almost any month of the year — the tidiest, most forgiving small color plant we specify for Phoenix front yards.
Steve Matson https://www.inaturalist.org/people/matsonburger / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0 — license
Not sure if this plant belongs near your pool, wall, pavers, or foundation?
AE reviews microclimate, root intrusion risk, and soil compatibility.
Schedule: Twice-weekly in summer, weekly in shoulder seasons.
Emitters: 1–2 emitters per plant, monitored during heat waves.
Flowering perennials, citrus, and lush accents need more attention than true desert plants.
Arizona yards have very different microclimates. West-facing walls, glass, artificial turf, pavers, travertine, porcelain, and pool decking all increase reflected heat. AE considers these before confirming placement.
- Low root impact
AE verifies pool deck, paver, foundation, wall, and utility clearances before final planting.
Quick Facts
- Plant type
- Flowering Perennial
- Mature size
- 1 ft tall, 1 ft wide
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water use
- Low
- Bloom season
- Can flower year-round
- Flower color
- Golden yellow
- Foliage
- Fine medium green
- Evergreen / Deciduous
- Evergreen
- Thorns / spines
- None
- Litter level
- Low
- Pool area
- Great
- Maintenance
- Low
- Privacy value
- Low
- Shade value
- Low
- Native
- Desert-adapted
About Angelita Daisy
Angelita Daisy does one job extremely well: it puts small golden-yellow daisy flowers above a neat, fine-textured green clump for most of the year, including stretches when nothing else in the bed is blooming. It grows fast to about a foot tall and a foot wide, stays evergreen, and AMWUA rates it hardy to about 10°F, so Valley cold snaps do not faze it. Water use is low, litter is low, and there are no thorns or irritating parts, which makes it comfortable along walkways, driveway edges and pool decks where people brush past constantly. Because it holds a compact, rounded shape on its own, it tends to read as intentional and well-kept — a real advantage in communities with tight front-yard design standards, though final HOA approval always belongs to the community. The tradeoffs are scale and refresh: a single plant is small, so it only works in groups, and the flower stems need periodic deadheading or a shear to keep the clump looking crisp rather than scruffy.
Best uses: Tidy front-yard color masses, low borders along walkways and driveways, filler between boulders and accent plants, clean low-water color near pool decks
AE Designer Opinion
Design Uses
- Drifts of golden color along front walkways and driveway edges
- Low border in front of evergreen structural shrubs
- Filler between boulders, accents and decomposed granite
- Thornless, low-litter planting near pool decks and seating
- Turf conversions needing year-round color at ground level
Care & Maintenance
- Water deeply and infrequently; low use once established
- Deadhead or shear spent flower stems two to three times a year
- Plant on roughly 12-inch centers for a continuous drift
- Ensure good drainage — raised or well-drained beds outperform low spots
- Divide or replace tired clumps rather than over-fertilizing them
Common Homeowner Mistakes
- Scattering single plants across a bed instead of massing them
- Skipping deadheading, so old stems bury the fresh flowers
- Watering it like turf on a daily schedule
- Planting it in deep shade and expecting continuous bloom
- Assuming a low-maintenance label means an HOA approval is automatic
Placement Warnings
⚠ One-foot mature size means it only works planted in groups. Spent flower stems accumulate and need periodic deadheading or shearing to keep the clump looking clean.
- Too small to use individually — plan drifts, not single plants
- No screening, privacy or shade value at one foot tall
- Avoid shaded, frequently irrigated pockets where the clump opens up
- Needs drainage; do not plant in low spots that stay wet
- Spent stems show quickly at close range along walkways and entries
AE reviews final placement based on sun, irrigation, drainage, mature size, and overall design.
Pairs Well With
- Damianita
- Trailing Rosemary
- Brittlebush
- Blackfoot Daisy
- Deer Grass
More Arizona Plants Like This
Ready to Build Your AE Plant Wishlist?
Add Angelita Daisy and your other favorites to your wishlist, then send it to the AE design team for the final plant palette.