Picture taken 7-15-09.
FAMILY: Asteraceae
GENUS: Gaillardia
Suzanne bought these seeds from an eBay seller… The same one from Canada that many seeds came from that turned out weird. Consequently, I have no idea what species or cultivar they are. I planted the seeds and then transplanted some of the plants in a planter in the back yard. They really did well, grew to a height of 36″ or so, and bloomed continuously from mid summer, and are STILL blooming as of December 16!!! I recommend that you keep the spent blooms snipped off for continual bloom (and it just looks better, too). They are cold hardy to AT LEAST zone 5, some species are hardy in zone 3!!!
Gaillardia mainly come in red and yellow bi-color, but there are cultivars that are just red and just yellow. Bees and butterflies just love them and there is hardly a time when one or the other are not on the flowers. If you want a nice, neat, and compact plant, most cultivars are not for you. They get tall and their blooms are on stringy stems. But, that causes no problem if you know it before hand. If you want a continuous bloomer that attracts bees and butterflies, they are just the ticket!
Another Gaillardia bloom on 8-14-09.
