Angelita Daisy

Meet Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis, syn. Hymenoxys acaulis) — the desert's most steadfast bloomer. While other plants rest, Angelita Daisy keeps going. Bright yellow flowers on slender stems rising from a tight, grass-like mound of foliage — blooming in late winter, through spring, through summer, and into fall. In mild years, it barely stops at all. It is the plant that makes your garden look alive when everything else is waiting for rain.

The name Angelita — little angel in Spanish — is the common name that stuck, and it fits. Small, bright, persistent, and quietly beautiful. A plant that earns its place in the garden every single day it blooms, which is most of them.

🌎 Native Range

Tetraneuris acaulis is native to the Chihuahuan Desert and the shortgrass prairie, ranging across southern New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and into northern Mexico. It grows on rocky slopes, desert grasslands, and open bajadas — a plant of dry, sunny, well-draining places. In southern New Mexico, it is one of the most reliable and long-blooming natives in cultivation.

🦋 Ecosystem Role

• Native Bees — the bright yellow composite flowers are an important early-season and late-season nectar and pollen source; small native bees, sweat bees, and mining bees are frequent visitors
• Butterflies & Skippers — documented nectar source throughout its long bloom season; the consistent flowering makes it a reliable anchor plant for desert pollinator gardens
• Soil Building — fibrous root system stabilizes rocky and sandy soils; excellent in disturbed or degraded desert soils where other plants struggle to establish
• Ground Cover — tight mounding habit makes it ideal as a low-maintenance ground cover, rock garden plant, or front-of-border anchor

🌟 Plant Highlights

• 1-gallon plant — well-rooted and ready to establish
• Compact mounding perennial, 6–12 inches tall — tidy, low, and effortlessly beautiful
• Bright yellow daisy flowers on slender stems from late winter through fall — one of the longest and most consistent bloom seasons of any desert native
• Evergreen foliage — holds its tight grass-like mound year-round; looks good even when not in bloom
• Extremely drought-tolerant once established — thrives on minimal supplemental water; a true desert survivor
• Only 2 available

🌵 Growing in the Desert Southwest?

• Full sun — thrives in open, hot exposures; does not tolerate shade
• Well-draining soil essential — rocky, sandy, or gravelly soils ideal; will not tolerate wet feet or clay
• Minimal irrigation once established — water weekly for the first season; deep monthly watering once established is usually sufficient
• Deadhead spent flowers to encourage continuous bloom — or leave them for the birds
• Pairs beautifully with Blackfoot Daisy and Desert Buckwheat for a low-water, high-impact pollinator trio that blooms nearly year-round

Little angel. Big season. The Angelita Daisy blooms when everything else is waiting. 🌼