Plant of the Week 05/14/2007: Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella)

Plant of the Week 05/14/2007

Gaillardia pulchella Fougeroux

Photographed by: Chelsie Vandaveer
Credits: Blanketflower photographed at a local nursery.
Other Information: Olympus C-8080wz

The firewheel or blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella Fougeroux) is an annual native over much of the U.S. Of the 15 or so species of Gaillardia, 12 are native to North America, the rest originate in South America mainly Argentina. A member of the Asteraceae (the sunflower family), the genus contains annuals, perennials and subshrubs.

Wild blanket flowers grow and bloom in dry, harsh locations like roadsides and pastures, reseeding themselves year after year. The sprawling dusty green and bright concentrically colored ray florets make blanket flowers readily recognizable even at 60 miles per hour. (There are places along oft traveled roads that I always see them.)

Blanket flowers do not need pampering; a sturdy plant for droughty conditions where watering is difficult or where municipalities have water use restrictions. For gardeners, there is an added bonus: they offer nectar for butterflies and the seeds are taken by small ground feeding birds, notably goldfinches.

(Compiled from: "384. Gaillardia Fougeroux", John L. Strother, Vol. 21, Page 421, Flora of North America, Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+, Flora of North America North of Mexico, 12+ vols. New York and Oxford. Published to the internet by efloras.org; "Gaillardia", Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2004. [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa; The A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, C. Brickell and J.D. Zuk, eds., American Horticultural Society, DK Publishing, NY, 1996)