According to IPNI [url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=317387-2&back_page=%2Fipni%2FeditAdvPlantNameSearch.do%3Ffind_infragenus%3D%26find_isAPNIRecord%3Dtrue%26find_geoUnit%3D%26find_includePublicationAuthors%3Dtrue%26find_addedSince%3D%26find_family%3D%26find_genus%3DGaillardia%26find_sortByFamily%3Dtrue%26find_isGCIRecord%3Dtrue%26find_infrafamily%3D%26find_rankToReturn%3Dall%26find_publicationTitle%3D%26find_authorAbbrev%3D%26find_infraspecies%3D%26find_includeBasionymAuthors%3Dtrue%26find_modifiedSince%3D%26find_isIKRecord%3Dtrue%26find_species%3D%26output_format%3Dnormal]G. aristata[/url] was collected by Meriwether Lewis in Montana, July 1806. This is approximately three months before the end of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The plant was described in 1813 by Friedrich Traugott Pursch.
Quite hardy and low-maintenance; tolerant of dry soil conditions. Long bloom period here in Middle TN (zone 6b).
Gaillardia is a North America native found from Virginia to Florida and westward to Colorado and New Mexico. The plant forms 12"-24" tall clumps with soft hairy divided leaves. The flowers can be single, double or semidouble and appear on long stems held above the foliage. Blanket Flower is considered an annual but will readily reseed. It likes hot, sunny areas, is salt tolerant, and blooms throughout the summer. Deadheading will prolong flowering.
I was a little disappointed in these. They had very interesting ruffly, pom-pom shaped blooms, unlike most Gaillardia. However, the stems were fairly weak, so they tended to droop and face downward. They were pretty battered after the first windy rainstorm, too. Not sure I'll grow these again.
Introduced by Burpee & Co.
