How to Grow Blanket Flower (Gaillardia Grandiflora)

Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're going to learn all about gaillardia grandiflora also known as the blanket flower. So gaillardia or blanket flower is found from southern America all the way down through Mexico into South America. So they love hot full sun and dry hot summers. They like hot full sun and really dry summers. They want to drink some water but they want to really dry out in between. They look just like little sunflowers but they come in gorgeous colors, reds and yellows and bright pinks and purples and they're named blanket flower because when the Europeans came to America, they found them everywhere and the Native Americans had blankets that had all the different colors in them. So the fields of the gaillardia reminded them of the Indian blankets so they called them the blanket flower. So gaillardia gets to be about three feet tall and you can actually dead head them and cut the blooms off as they fade and they'll produce more blooms over the summer and they'll bloom into the fall till the first frost. And they're an annual so you have to start them by seed every spring and that way you can enjoy them every summer and you'll enjoy those gaillardias, they're a great, great flower.