September 25, 2026 Justin Lewis

Golden Tree Daisy for Frosty & Cold-Climate Gardens | NZ Native

Cold-climate gardening in New Zealand is about much more than choosing plants with a “frost hardy” label.

In places such as Southland, Otago, inland Canterbury and colder elevated sites, plants can face repeated frosts, cold soils, wind, winter wet, short growing seasons and sudden changes in temperature. A plant that survives one cold night may still struggle if the overall site does not suit it.

Golden Tree Daisy – Shawia solandri, formerly Olearia solandri – is a particularly tough New Zealand native shrub and a useful option for many of these colder gardens.

It combines good frost tolerance with resistance to wind and relatively dry conditions once established. That combination makes it especially interesting for exposed southern properties where plants often need to cope with several difficult conditions at once.

Is Golden Tree Daisy frost hardy?

Yes. Golden Tree Daisy is generally a very frost-hardy shrub and handles the regular hard frosts experienced in many colder New Zealand gardens.

This means its usefulness in cultivation extends considerably beyond warmer coastal environments. It can be a useful native for Southland, Otago and other parts of New Zealand where winter frost is a normal part of gardening.

Shop: Natives for Alpine conditions

But there is an important distinction between saying a plant is frost hardy and saying it is guaranteed in every extreme frost situation.

We don't make the second claim.

Cold climate is more complicated than minimum temperature

When assessing a cold garden, the lowest overnight temperature is only part of the story.

Two gardens that reach the same minimum temperature can produce quite different results.

Consider:

how long the frost lasts
how frequently severe frosts occur
whether the site receives winter sun
whether cold air collects in the area
soil drainage
winter soil moisture
wind exposure
elevation and surrounding topography.

A free-draining hillside that receives regular hard frosts can be quite different from a low hollow where cold air collects and the ground remains saturated through winter.

That is why we prefer to consider the whole site rather than relying entirely on a frost-hardiness number.

Drainage becomes particularly important in cold climates

Golden Tree Daisy generally prefers reasonably free-draining soil.

That matters everywhere, but it becomes particularly important in colder gardens.

Cold alone may be tolerated perfectly well. Cold combined with a permanently saturated root zone can be much more difficult.

Roots sitting in waterlogged, oxygen-poor soil through a cold winter are under very different stress from roots in soil that remains moist but drains freely.

For that reason, we would be considerably more confident planting Golden Tree Daisy on a free-draining cold site than in a low-lying area that remains waterlogged through winter.

If your garden is naturally wet, don't try to force Golden Tree Daisy into the wrong position simply because it is frost hardy. Choose plants genuinely suited to wet ground instead.

Golden Tree Daisy in Southland

Southland is a particularly interesting example because frost is only one part of the climate.

Gardens can also experience persistent wind, cool temperatures, substantial rainfall and relatively short periods of strong summer growth.

Golden Tree Daisy can be very useful because it isn't simply a plant that tolerates cold. It can also cope with wind and exposure, while established plants can handle periods of comparatively dry weather.

This combination of tolerances makes it useful around Invercargill and across rural Southland, as well as in colder gardens farther north where similar conditions occur.

Shop: Native Plants for Southland Conditions

What about Otago and Central Otago?

Golden Tree Daisy can also be useful in Otago, but this is where microclimate becomes increasingly important.

Coastal and lower-altitude Otago conditions are very different from some of the severe inland frost pockets found in Central Otago.

Central Otago combines cold winters with hot, dry summers and large seasonal temperature variations. Golden Tree Daisy's tolerance of both frost and dry conditions makes it an interesting candidate for colder, free-draining sites.

Shop: Native Plants for Central Otago Conditions

However, we would not guarantee Golden Tree Daisy for every severe Central Otago frost pocket.

A particularly low-lying site that traps extremely cold air, remains damp through winter or experiences an unusually severe combination of conditions should be assessed on its own merits.

Frost pockets deserve special attention

Cold air tends to move downhill and collect in lower areas.

This can create frost pockets where temperatures fall lower and remain cold for longer than they do only a short distance away.

You may notice this within your own property.

A plant on a slope may remain relatively untouched while the same species at the bottom of the section receives much heavier frost.

Existing vegetation can provide useful clues. If less frost-hardy plants repeatedly suffer damage in one particular area while surviving elsewhere, the local microclimate may be more important than the general climate of your town or region.

Where possible, position Golden Tree Daisy away from the most extreme cold-air hollows, particularly where those hollows are also wet.

Wind and frost often occur together

Many cold gardens are also exposed gardens.

This is particularly common on open rural properties, elevated subdivisions, hill country and sites where shelter has not yet developed.

Golden Tree Daisy is useful here because wind tolerance is one of its major strengths.

Rather than trying to grow a frost-hardy but wind-sensitive shrub, Golden Tree Daisy can cope with both conditions and can eventually be used to create protection for other plants behind it.

Using Golden Tree Daisy to create a more sheltered garden

The benefit of a hardy shelter plant extends beyond the plant itself.

Persistent wind increases moisture loss, exposes plants to greater physical stress and can make already cold outdoor spaces feel considerably harsher.

A Golden Tree Daisy screen or larger shelter planting can reduce wind movement through the garden and create a more protected microclimate behind it.

This can make it easier to establish a wider range of plants on the sheltered side.

Hedge or natural shelter?

How large Golden Tree Daisy becomes depends heavily on how it is managed.

As a maintained hedge, it can be kept around 1–1.5 m high with regular trimming.

As a garden specimen with more room, approximately 2–3 m is a useful expectation.

Allowed to develop naturally as shelter, plants can eventually become much larger, reaching around 4–5 m.

For residential gardens where a compact boundary is required, Golden Tree Daisy can be maintained as a relatively dense native hedge.

For larger cold rural properties, the looser natural form may be more useful.

Planting Golden Tree Daisy in a cold garden

Good establishment matters even with a hardy plant.

Prepare the site before planting and remove competing grass and weeds from immediately around the young plant.

Plant the root ball approximately level with the surrounding soil rather than burying the stem deeply.

Water thoroughly after planting so the root ball and surrounding soil are properly wetted.

The objective is to help the young plant establish roots beyond the small volume of soil in which it arrived.

Add slow-release fertiliser tablets at planting

One of the most useful additions we have found for establishing young native plants is slow-release fertiliser tablets added at planting time.

For normal conditions, we recommend approximately 3–4 tablets per plant, distributed through the surrounding soil rather than concentrated directly against the stem or root ball.

The tablets provide a controlled supply of nutrients and micronutrients for up to approximately two years, which coincides particularly well with the important establishment period.

We have found the difference in establishment and subsequent growth can be substantial.

On extremely poor or depleted soils, increasing this to around 10 tablets per plant can make a very significant difference. The larger nutrient reserve supports the plant as its roots progressively move beyond the original root ball and into the surrounding soil.

Because nutrients are released gradually, slow-release tablets have a much lower risk of fertiliser burn than applying a concentrated quantity of readily soluble fertiliser around a young root system.

Shop: Fertiliser Tablets – 100 Pack

Watering still matters in cold climates

Winter may be wet in many southern gardens, but newly planted shrubs should never simply be forgotten because the weather is cool.

Check soil moisture rather than relying on the calendar.

If rainfall is adequate and the ground remains appropriately moist, supplementary watering may be unnecessary.

If conditions become dry—particularly during spring, summer or persistent drying winds—young plants may still require deep watering while their root systems establish.

Golden Tree Daisy becomes considerably more tolerant of dry conditions once established.

When is the best time to plant in a cold area?

Golden Tree Daisy can be planted at different times of year, but the site and likely weather after planting matter.

Autumn planting can work very well where soil remains workable and plants have time to begin establishing before severe winter conditions.

In particularly harsh inland sites, spring planting may be the safer option, giving a young plant a longer period to establish before it encounters its first severe winter.

Summer planting is also possible, but the trade-off is greater attention to watering.

The best planting time is therefore partly determined by the conditions you can realistically manage after planting.

Should I protect young Golden Tree Daisy from frost?

Under ordinary cold-garden conditions, we would not generally expect established Golden Tree Daisy to require routine frost protection.

Very young plants in unusually severe sites deserve more judgement.

If an exceptional cold event is forecast immediately after planting, temporary protection may be sensible. But if a site requires permanent frost protection year after year, that raises a more fundamental question about whether the plant is positioned appropriately.

The long-term objective should be a hardy planting adapted to the site—not a supposedly low-maintenance native garden that requires constant winter intervention.

Golden Tree Daisy for a cold-climate native garden

Golden Tree Daisy doesn't need to be planted alone.

Its fine foliage and loose branching can combine particularly well with other hardy New Zealand natives.

The important thing is to choose companions that suit the same actual site conditions, rather than simply assembling plants that all carry a general frost-hardy label.

A cold, dry and windy garden requires a different plant combination from a cold, sheltered and damp one.

Corokia, Coprosma, hardy native grasses and other appropriately selected shrubs can all be considered, provided their moisture, drainage and exposure requirements match the site.

Shop - Natives for Tough Conditions

The key to growing Golden Tree Daisy in cold conditions

Golden Tree Daisy is a genuinely hardy native shrub, but the best results come from looking at the whole environment.

For most cold gardens, the important considerations are:

frost severity and duration
drainage
winter soil moisture
wind exposure
frost pockets and topography
establishment watering
weed competition
soil fertility
allowing enough room for the intended mature form.

Get those fundamentals right and Golden Tree Daisy can provide evergreen structure, screening and shelter in gardens where less hardy shrubs struggle.

Its combination of frost tolerance, wind tolerance and established dry tolerance is what makes it particularly valuable in colder exposed parts of New Zealand.

Golden Tree Daisy – Shawia solandri or Olearia solandri?

Golden Tree Daisy has traditionally been known in New Zealand horticulture as Olearia solandri.

Following botanical revision, the current botanical name is Shawia solandri.

At Greenmachine we predominantly use Golden Tree Daisy in ordinary language and Shawia solandri as the current botanical name, while retaining Olearia solandri where useful for recognition and legacy searches.

If you already know the plant as Olearia solandri, you're looking at the same Golden Tree Daisy discussed throughout this guide.

Ready to grow Golden Tree Daisy in your garden?

For the complete overview—including size, growth habit, pruning, hedging, shelter, wind, coastal exposure and dry conditions—continue with our main Golden Tree Daisy guide.

Or, if you're ready to plant:

Shop: Golden Tree Daisy – Shawia solandri

Filed in: alpine

Next article Frost-Tolerant Native Plants for Riparian and Restoration Sites in Cold NZ Regions