Gaillardia, commonly referred to as blanket flower, is a short-lived perennial with vibrant, daisy-like blossoms that is simple to grow. The common name of the plant, which refers to how it can gradually grow and “blanket” an area, may be an allusion to how it produces a gently spreading mound. The plants stretch out to a maximum height of 20 inches and a maximum width of 24 inches. The blanket flower grows quickly. Plants bought from nurseries are often prepared to bloom in your yard, unlike plants grown from seed, which will blossom in their second year. Throughout the warm season, this perennial garden staple produces a profusion of huge, spectacular flowers in hues of red and yellow.
Usually planted from nursery starts, these short-lived perennials can also be grown from seeds sown directly in the garden after the last frost date (or started indoors about 4 to 6 weeks early). Be aware that people may be mildly poisonous to blanket flower.
How much room is required by a blanket flower?
Gaillardias require little upkeep. When it’s dry out, water the bed once or twice a week, and in the spring, when new growth starts to develop, apply a balanced fertilizer. Deadheading the flowers is optional, but it keeps the plants looking neat and may even encourage new blooms. Shear down your blanket flowers if they begin to appear untidy and straggly in the middle of summer. They’ll return with a more streamlined shape and more blossoms. Gaillardias often bloom in the summer through the fall.
Birds like finches and butterflies are drawn to gaillardias. A few seed heads should remain for the birds. In addition, keeping these seeds ensures a fresh crop of plants the next spring. Gaillardias should be dug up and divided every two to three years. Plants should be spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.
When given ideal growing conditions, gaillardia experiences minimal disease-causing pests. However, the plants may get illnesses like root rot in heavy, damp soil. Late summer is when powdery mildew tends to strike, but it rarely does any real harm. Gaillardia should be spaced so that air can freely circulate, and drip irrigation should be used in place of overhead sprinklers to reduce issues. Use raised beds or amend clay soils with heavy clay. You might observe the middle of the cluster diminishing or dying as the plants get older. To revive the plant, remove this section and replant the outer clumps. Do not overwater or mulch cover blooms.
Sunlight needs for Blanket Flower
The gaillardia plant prefers full sun, and it blooms most profusely when it receives 6 to 8 hours of daily direct sunlight. Try growing Gaillardia if you live in a hot climate and notice that other flowers wither from the heat.
Gaillardia can tolerate some partial shade in an extremely hot environment, but the flowers will get lanky and the plant won’t flower as frequently.
Moisture and Soil Requirements for Gaillardia
This lovely perennial may withstand droughts to some extent. Select loose, sandy soil that drains nicely. The ideal pH is neutral. After this, the plant is easy to maintain and needs minimal water. The first season the plant needs water to establish itself.
Compost or other organic material should be added each year at planting time and in the early spring. Plants should be placed 12 inches apart.
Flowers and growing habit for Gaillardia
The gaillardia flower, from which it derives its common name, has extremely vivid and dramatic hues in red, yellow, and orange with a blanket-like quilted appearance. Many people began referring to the blossoms as “Indian blanket flowers” because they appeared to make people think of vividly colored Native American blankets.
The plant grows from a height of about 15 inches to a maximum of 3 feet. Since most plants don’t grow much taller than two feet, the front of borders are ideal for them. Gaillardia grows as a mound that spreads gradually.
Gaillardia blanket flowers have a long blooming period; they will continue to bloom for months during a large portion of the gardening season, from early summer to fall.
In blanket flowers, the ends of the petals appear torn. Double petals can be found on some plants. The majority of the plants have petals that resemble daisies, but some have odd petals that resemble tubes and are quite beautiful.
Deadhead the plants frequently to keep them blooming beautifully all summer. Although the flowers are fleeting, as long as you keep up with the deadheading, they will continue to bloom. Check out this post for plants that don’t require deadheading if you don’t like to do it.
Propagating Gaillardia
The blanket flower can be multiplied through division, root cuttings, or seed. Every two to three years, divide established plants in the spring or early fall. Gaillardia perennials have a short lifespan; thus, division will enable you to maintain them in your yard for many years.
Gaillardias may be cultivated from seed, and unlike some other perennial seeds, they bloom the first year. Gaillardia seeds from your current plants won’t grow identically to the parent, though.
Cold Hardiness Zones
This attractive perennial is adaptable to zones 3 through 9 and is very simple to overwinter. To ensure that the gaillardia clusters endure through the winter, cut them back in the fall to approximately 6 inches.
What height is ideal for a blanket flower?
Gaillardia, also known as blanket flower, is a robust, sun-loving, drought-resistant perennial that is incredibly simple to grow. It is a native of the American grasslands. Throughout the summer, blanket flowers produce cheery, solid or patterned red, orange, or yellow flowers that will fill your garden with dozens of vibrant butterflies. On strong stems that are raised above the plant’s foliage, the flowers are visible. Most blanket flower cultivars have a height range of 18 to 22 inches. Hardy in zones 5 through 9.
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Blanket Flower Growing Instructions
Simple needs apply to blanket flower. Really, all it needs is a place in the sun and the odd sip of water. Although they are not picky about soil type, they do appreciate a location that has good drainage and doesn’t remain muddy after a hard rain. A little layer of winter mulch will protect plants from below-freezing temperatures in the northern sections of their range. In containers, blanket flowers do well as well.
Every two to three years, divide blanket flowers to maintain the plants healthy. Add new plants every few years as it is a perennial that can have a short lifespan.
Although blanket flower may be a favorite food of butterflies, neither humans nor animals are supposed to eat it.
Add these kinds to your Blanket Flower arrangement:
Coreopsis Gaillardia and coreopsis make a wonderful pairing because they both bloom at the same time and are similar in height.
Red-Headed Poker Red hot poker’s towering blossom spikes make a wonderful complement for blanket flower.
Varieties: Our Favorites
A prize-winning blanket flower, “Arizona Apricot,” grows gorgeous yellow petals that progressively deepen to a rich apricot center. The plants continue to bloom all summer long, especially if you pick off the faded flowers as soon as they show. It grows from one to two feet tall. Zones 3-9
Award-winning Arizona Red Shades blanket flower has rusty-red blooms throughout the summer and into the beginning of autumn. It expands 12 inches in height and width. Zones 3-9
Arizona Sun is a fantastic choice for hot, sunny environments because of its bright red serrated flowers with a yellow border. This award-winning cultivar is resistant of drought. Zones 3-9
Should blanket flowers have their fall growth pruned back?
The blanket flower is a rather hardy plant, and it appears that pruning the spent stems increases its strength. With some fall pruning, the plant will seem fuller and healthier. Additionally, deadheading flowers regularly might encourage more continuous blooming throughout the growing season.
What complements blanket flowers well?
The companion plants you should grow with blanket flower include ornamental grasses, tickseed, milkweed, lantana, coneflower, bee balm, blazing star, salvia, catmint, and lavender.
What is the lifespan of a blanket flower?
The best thing about blanket flowers is this. Gardening friends, hold on to your socks because this is quite easy and basic.
In the late fall, prune your Gaillardia down to a height of approximately six inches, and then remove the dead growth.
The seed heads are lovely in and of themselves, and the local wildlife appears to like eating them, so you don’t have to deadhead the flowers throughout the growing season.
Individual plants often live for two to three years before passing away.
At the two-year mark, split them to spare yourself some pain. You’ll benefit from the offer by receiving two plants and extending their lifespan.
The willingness of blanket flowers to move and spread outside of their initial zone is the only potential source of discomfort you might experience.
As a self-seeder, there will be many seeds, which will result in many flowers. You’ll need to pick out stray flowers a few times over the growing season if you want to keep things neat.
What Kind of Pests and Diseases Should I Watch Out For?
Gaillardia exhibits remarkable resistance to pests and illnesses. Deer and rabbits typically aren’t a problem because the majority of wildlife prefers to disregard these. There are also not many insects that directly cause problems.
Powdery mildew, aster yellows, and fungal leaf spot are the main problems that gardeners will face with blanket flowers.
With careful watering and the administration of antifungal sprays as necessary, powdery mildew and fungal leaf spot can be handled, but aster yellows is a disease that necessitates the immediate destruction of the affected plant.
Aphids and leafhoppers, which are not harmful to blanket flowers but are capable of carrying this deadly illness, spread it.
To identify aster yellows, look for green-colored, stunted flowers. To stop this infection from spreading, you must remove infected plants from your garden and throw them away. Infected plant waste should not be added to your compost pile.
Companion Plantings
Blanket flowers work well with echinacea, black-eyed Susans, salvia, sedum, herbs, and shrubs like juniper and heather because they both like the same circumstances. Some heuchera species make excellent choices as well!
When it comes to annuals, think about using colorful and eye-catching blooms like marigolds and lantana to complement your blanket flowers. You can also use darker hues like Persian shield, annual salvia, and some varieties of vinca flowers to add contrast.
Can blanket blooms be divided?
The blanket flower has petals that resemble daisies in color and crimson centers (Gaillardia). These resilient perennials flourish in both North and South America and can withstand low temperatures down to USDA Zone 4. This colorful flower, which has more than a dozen species (some of which are annual variants), takes its name from characteristic Native American blankets of red and yellow. In order to maintain plant health and encourage new growth, perennial types should be lifted and propagated through root division every three to five years.
To lessen stress from transplanting, divide roots in the early spring as soon as the first signs of new growth occur.
Use a spade or garden fork to make a hole around the blanket flower’s base. Dig to a depth of 8 to 10 inches, starting 6 to 8 inches from the plant’s base.
- The blanket flower has petals that resemble daisies in color and crimson centers (Gaillardia).
Spade tines or a garden fork tines should be slid under the root ball. Lift the plant out of the ground.
Use your hands to separate the roots. Divide the plant into a few pieces by gently pulling. Three to five pieces can normally be separated from an established blanket flower. There should be two or three leaf shoots in each segment.
- Spade tines or a garden fork tines should be slid under the root ball.
- Shake carefully to show the roots and to get rid of any extra soil.
Prior to planting again, keep roots cold and wet. Place the roots in a bucket and place folded newspapers on top of them. Until plants can be transplanted, wet the newspaper and place it in a cool location out of direct sunlight.
Replant in the same growing conditions as the original spot in prepared soil. To allow roots to stretch out across the earth without bending or folding, dig a hole that is sufficiently large. Place earth over the ends of the roots, guiding them downward. To hold the plant in place, firmly press down with your hands.
- Prior to planting again, keep roots cold and wet.
- Until plants can be transplanted, wet the newspaper and place it in a cool location out of direct sunlight.
Till the plant demonstrates symptoms of new growth, water thoroughly to hydrate the soil to the level of the roots. Resuming routine care.
Are bees attracted to blanket flowers?
This week is National Wildflower Week. We honor our native wildflowers and the pollinators they sustain during the first week of May. This article is a part of a series that features some of the top pollinator-friendly plants nationwide. utilizing material from our publications Gardening for Butterflies, 100 Plants to Feed the Bees, and our Monarch Nectar Plant Guides.
Gaillardia spp.
The vividly colored blossom of blanketflower, which blooms in warm colors reminiscent of blankets woven by Native Americans of the Southwest, may be the source of the plant’s common name. Another explanation is that it alludes to the way that certain plants “spread the ground in regions where they grow. In any case, a variety of bees, including green metallic sweat bees (Agapostemon spp.), bumble bees, and others attracted to the brightly colored blossoms, adore this vibrant plant. Additionally, the plant serves as a food supply for the caterpillars of the painted schinia (S. volupia) and gaillardia flower moth (Schinia masoni), butterflies with wing patterns and hues that resemble the petals of the blanketflower.
Generally speaking, blanketflower performs best in a dry, sunny location and does not tolerate damp or dense clay soils. Although it may be cultivated in much of the United States, save for the drier parts of the country, it is usually an annual or a short-lived perennial. It’s worth putting in your pollinator garden as an annual or short-lived perennial even if it isn’t consistently perennial outside of its native range because it flowers early and frequently, frequently remaining one of the last plants to flower through the end of the season.
Native range: There are perhaps a dozen different species of blanketflower in North America, but only two of them are frequently bought as seeds or garden plants. Gaillardia aristata, a perennial species of blanketflower, is found in the northern plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the interior Northwest. An annual species known as Indian blanket (G. pulchella) can be found from Arizona through the southern plains, the Gulf Coast, and Florida.
Best for: Providing a variety of bees with a year-round source of pollen and nectar.