Foliage Friday - Blanket flower

Haaaaaapy Friday! Did you miss me the past THREE WEEKS? Yikes, I certainly owe you... but I'm not sure how to make it up to you! We'll go ahead and start with a post that is on time. :)


Ready for a Foliage Friday update? I hope so! Here is your friendly plant post, where I talk about a plant I love and hopefully convince you to either plant it or just be more knowledgeable about it.

Plant: Gaillardia, blanket flower

A cluster of Gaillardia, so pretty!

Why: At my new job, I am working with a variety of landscape plants and one of them is the blanket flower. It's ironic because this summer when my mom and I went to the garden center, she came across a blanket flower and immediately wanted to buy it. We added it to our backyard to give it a go. I love it because of the colors! Red, orange, and yellow! Who knew 5 months later I would be working for a company who is trying to develop the plant further? Awesome. :)

Landscape info: The blanket flower is a perennial plant and is from the sunflower family. The face of the flower resembles a tiny sunflower. It is native to North and South America. They grow from 1.5 to 2 feet tall and the bright flowers bloom in summer time. They grow the best in full sun and under dry (and sometimes harsh) conditions. Look, a plant you don't have to water very often! I even read that they will even grow and bloom along a sandy seashore! That would lead me to assume the soil you plant this flower in does not need to be very fertile.  Overall, it is rather short lived and won't be a long lasting perennial. I would guess 2-4 seasons.

Can you sort of see the sunflower resemblance?

Other uses: I couldn't find anything for an "other uses"!

Fun facts: The common name, blanket flower, refers to the flower's resemblance to brightly patterned blankets made by native Americans. There are more than two dozen known species of Gaillardia.  And I happen to be working on a few those right now. ;-)

Here is a variety of Gaillardia, with flouted petals. Love it!

An all red variety!

 Information and pictures from: www.wildflowerinformation.org, http://easywildflowers.com

 There is my first Foliage Friday for a few weeks... featuring a flower I work with daily! Who knows what other varieties you'll see in the near feature. ;)