Gazania rigens
Common: Gazania
Family: Asteraceae
Origin/Range: South Africa
Light: Full sun
Temp: Hardy to 15°F (-10°C)
Water: Occasional summer watering
Soil: Fast draining soil
Heat tolerant, but does better with late afternoon shade. Short lived perennial, up to 12 inches tall (30 cm), some varieties spread rapidly by trailing stems. Seeds in winter, cuttings in late summer, clump division.
Gazanias are very commonly used as annuals. In Phoenix, they overwinter well if not kept wet. Keep them in light sandy soil, water them occasionally once established, and fertilize them twice a year. If you shear the flowers every month or so to get rid of spent flowers, it is a pleasant and effortless ground cover. Even with reasonable care, you can expect that after a few years the plant will weaken. They should then be replaced.
The 3-4 inches flowers (7-10 cm) come in all kind of colors. They close at night and during cloudy weather, so they are not usable as cut flowers. Although they seem to come in greater quantity in spring, they are there year around.