PLANT OF THE WEEK

Gaillardia x grandiflora are commonly called Blanket flowers.



Would you like to grow dazzling daisy like flowers that get their common name from the bright colours of blankets?

Gaillardia are a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America.

Apparently North American Indians wove really bright blankets and the fields were these grow look like they’re covered in these blankets.

These are easy to grow plants that have some frost tolerance and definitely can cope with neglect.

I'm talking with the plant panel ;- Karen Smith editor of Hort Journal and Jeremy Critchley, the owner of the Green Gallery Nursery, which is a wholesale nursery by the way

The shades are red, yellow and orange and now some with pink in them. 
Look for Gaillardia Sunset Cutie and Gaillardia "Fanfare" that has tubular petals.

Regarded as a mushrooming plant, meaning that it goes upwards then outwards to give it a mushroom habit. Perhaps a low mounding habit might be a better way to describe their growth.
To grow Gaillardia you need a full sun position and very well-drained soil.
They prefer loose, sandy soil that isn't overly fertile. Sounds like poor soils are good for them.

The petals of some are frilled, while others have a unique, tubular shape.  Why not try some of these varieties -Gaillardia 'Tokajer' With marmalade-orange flowers that shade subtly to peach at the tips, this 60cm variety may need staking.

Gaillardia 'Burgundy' As its name suggests, this variety bears large, 3 inch wide wine-red blossoms on a 60 – 75 cm tall plant.

Gaillardia 'Oranges and Lemons' has softer colours than other blanket flowers, with peach-colored, yellow-tipped blossoms with gold central cones on a 60cm tall plant. Hardy.