The hearty, heat-tolerant hedge flower is an excellent addition to the casual garden with vibrantly patterned, Daisy-like blooms in yellow, orange, and red shades.
Approximately 25 to 30 species[1] of Gaillardia, a genus of annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the Asteraceae family (sunflower), are all native to America.
The common name blanket flower may come from the similarity of the flowers to brightly colored Indian blankets in similar colors.
Gaillardia aristata generally grows in clusters up to 30 inches tall and is primarily found in arid regions on mountain slopes, grasslands, meadows, and prairies.
The flowers of the Gaillardia species comprise numerous small central disk flowers enveloped by 15 or more sterile striped flowers (although some do not have striped flowers).
Usually, the striped flowers are long and flat like petals with 3-pointed tips, but they can curl like trumpets in some of them.
It has daisy-like, orange-red flowers (up to 3″ in diameter) with yellow tip rays. It blooms from late spring through fall. Greenish-gray lanceolate leaves may be pinnate near the base of the plant.
