Zone: 3 to 9
Soil: Sand to clay
Light: Full sun to part sun
Bloom colour: Yellow and red
Bloom period: All summer into fall
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Moisture: Dry to medium
Attracts: Bees and butterflies
Notes: Gaillardia have large bold flowers that are considered by some to be quite garish. However, if you want to splash your garden landscape with colour and you have well drained soil, then these flowers are for you. While the majority of the these plants are red-centred with yellow edges, there is some genetic variability within in each species and sometimes even purely orange flowers are observed. They are attractive to bumblebees and sweat bees. Gaillardia pulchella is a near-native introduced to Ontario while Gaillardia aristata is really a flower of the Western half of North America. They grow well in dry, sandy and sunny conditions and are long blooming.
Gaillardia should be treated like a short-lived perennial or an annual. In clay, they are likely to die of root rot over the winter, so harvest the seed every year. In sand or other well-drained soils, the plant is biennial. The weedy looking leaves are more than made up for by bicoloured flowers that look like they have been genetically engineered for size and colour.
The shorter Gaillardia aristata looks great towards the front of the border and is easily available in commercial nurseries. Gaillardia pulchella is harder to obtain. Gaillardia pulchella is the tallest of the three plants mentioned being up to 4 feet tall. However, in sandy soil it will more likely be 1-2 feet high. Gaillardia x grandiflora is a fertile hybrid of these two species and is also fairly short. Many different cultivars have been produced by crossing the two straight species mentioned here and they will probably not breed true. The straight species is preferred but some cultivars like 'Arizona Sun' can be attractive to pollinators. Unless you are trying to create your own hybrids it would wise to only plant one of these species in your garden.
Deadheading is a good idea in the first half of the summer as it will encourage the plants to keep producing more flowers. In the latter part of the summer, let the flowers go to seed. Due to their short life-span, some seed collecting is necessary to guarantee enough daughter plants. Keeps the seeds in a cool place until the spring and sprinkle them on the ground in places where you want them to grow. These plants will self-seed on their own to some extent.
Blanketflowers have it all: Eye-catching flowers; exceptionally long bloom period; and wildlife appeal. If you have a well drained soil, then surely you can find space for some of these. |
