How to Grow Gaillardia in Australia

Gaillardia, or blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella), is a sun-loving member of the daisy family (Asteraceae). It is grown for red, orange and yellow daisies from spring into autumn. The Single Flowered Mix is this species: an annual that can live on as a short-lived perennial in warm gardens. The perennial blanket flowers are Gaillardia aristata and its hybrid with the annual, Gaillardia x grandiflora. All of them take heat, drought, sandy soil and salty wind, and feed butterflies and native bees. The mistake most gardeners make is kindness: rich soil and frequent water rot the roots and cut flowering short.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Rich, wet soil. Roots rot in soil that stays wet, and plants in heavy clay rarely survive winter. Plant in sandy or gritty, free-draining soil in full sun, skip the manure, and let the surface dry between waterings.
2. Burying the seed. The annual blanket flower needs light to germinate, so seed raked deep or buried under mix can fail to come up. Press it onto the surface, or cover it with no more than 3 mm of fine mix.
3. Expecting it to return like a perennial. In most gardens the Single Flowered Mix flowers for months, sets seed and dies. Leave a few heads to self-sow or save seed, and sow again each year.

When to plant

Seed germinates best when the soil sits between about 15 and 21°C, and slowly down to 10°C. Sow in spring once frosts have passed, or in autumn where winters are mild.

In frosty districts, start trays under cover 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost and plant out once it has passed. Late in a window, water seedlings steadily, because the soil dries fast in heat.

Site, soil and setup

Blanket flower sits outside the vegetable rotation, so give it a sunny border, a dry bank or the hot edge of the vegie patch. See sandy, clay or loam soils if you are unsure what you have.

Weed status by state

Blanket flowers have escaped gardens in several states, and Western Australia bans the annual species. Check your state in the table before sowing, and deadhead every flower near bushland or coastal dunes.

Container growing

Blanket flower suits a pot on a hot patio, and a pot keeps its seed out of bushland. Give one plant a pot at least 25 cm wide, about 10 L, or three plants a pot 40 cm wide. Use premium potting mix with about a third coarse sand or perlite mixed through. Potting mix can carry Legionella bacteria, so wet it down, wear gloves and a mask, and wash your hands afterwards. Compact perennial types such as 'Goblin' and 'Fanfare' suit smaller pots.

• Watering. Water when the top 3 cm of mix is dry, and never leave the pot standing in water. See watering pots through summer.
• Feeding. Potting mix holds little food, so give fish and seaweed blend at 25 mL per 9 L each fortnight from first buds to midsummer.
• Position. Full sun, moved under the eaves through long spells of heavy rain.

Sowing Seeds

Sow blanket flower where it is to flower, or in trays in frosty districts. Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send gaillardia seed to Western Australia.

Sowing direct

• Rake the bed to a fine surface, water it, and scatter the seed thinly.
• Press the seed in with your palm, and cover it with no more than 3 mm of fine soil.
• Keep the surface moist until seedlings appear, usually in 7 to 20 days.
• Mark the patch: young seedlings look like dandelions and are easily weeded out.
• Thin to the spacing in the table once seedlings have two or three true leaves.

Starting under cover

Fill a punnet or cell tray with fresh seed raising mix and water it first. Press two or three seeds onto each cell and leave them uncovered or barely covered. Keep the tray bright, moist and at the temperature under When to plant, then thin to the strongest seedling per cell.

Transplanting

Plant out 4 to 8 weeks after sowing, once roots fill the cell and frost has passed. First harden them off (a week of gradually longer outdoor stays, so leaves toughen to sun and wind), as in hardening off seedlings. Set each plant at the depth it grew and water it in with seaweed solution at 30 mL per 9 L.

Care by growth stage

Drainage and restraint decide how well blanket flower grows: steady moisture until roots take hold, then deep, occasional water and very little food.

Week ranges run from the sowing date. If growth stalls in very poor sand, scratch in a light dose of all-purpose controlled release granular (NPK around 14-5-10) in early spring.

Deadheading

Removing spent flowers keeps plants tidy, can bring more blooms and may help perennial types live longer. Wear gloves when deadheading and thinning, because the hairy leaves can irritate sensitive skin.

• Snip each faded flower back to the next leaf or bud on its stem, every week or so.
• If flowering stalls in midsummer heat, cut plants back to encourage an autumn flush.
• Cut perennial types back to about 15 cm in late summer to help them survive winter.
• Late in the season, let a few flowers ripen into round, fuzzy seed heads for self-sowing and birds, unless you garden near bushland.

Companion planting

Its long run of flowers feeds bees and beneficial insects from spring into autumn.

Grows well with

• Coreopsis and rudbeckia, prairie daisies that share its sun and dry soil.
• Sunflowers, which make a tall back row of daisies behind it.
• Salvia with blue or purple flowers, which cools the hot reds and yellows.
• Lavender, whose grey leaves suit the same lean, free-draining soil.
• Yarrow, whose fine, ferny leaves contrast with the broad, hairy gaillardia leaves.

Keep apart

• Lettuce and other crops that need rich, constantly moist soil.
• Low plants such as violas, which a sprawling blanket flower can shade out.

Harvesting Blooms

Cut blanket flowers when they are fully open, with the petals spread and the central disc showing.

• Pick early in the morning, while stems are full of water.
• Cut a long stem just above a leaf, so side shoots carry the next flowers.
• Strip any leaves that would sit below the water line.
• Stand stems in clean, cool water straight away.
• Wear gloves, as for deadheading.

Blanket flowers are long-lasting cut flowers. Use them in hot-coloured posies with sunflowers and rudbeckia.

Common problems

No seedlings. Seed buried too deep (see Three mistakes that matter), a surface allowed to dry, or cold soil is usually to blame. Read more

Thin, leaning seedlings. Tray seedlings stretch when light is weak, so move them into full sun as soon as they emerge. Read more

Plants wilt and rot at the base. Root rot sets in when soil stays wet, often after long spells of heavy summer rain; replant into a mound or pot. Read more

Lots of leaves, few flowers. Shade, rich soil or regular feeding push leaves at the expense of flowers; move plants into full sun and stop feeding.

Plants die after one summer. The Single Flowered Mix is usually an annual (see Three mistakes that matter), and perennial types burn out after heavy flowering.

Pests and diseases

Blanket flower has few serious pests or diseases.

Leafcurl plum aphid (Brachycaudus helichrysi). In Australia this aphid feeds on daisy-family plants, and it is recorded on G. pulchella, crowding onto shoot tips and buds. Hose off small colonies; for repeat outbreaks, spray soapy water or horticultural oil, never in hot weather. Read more

Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). These tiny, slender insects breed in the flowers of many garden plants and weeds, and spread tomato spotted wilt virus. Tap a flower over white paper to check for them, and pull broadleaf weeds nearby. Read more

Powdery mildew (Erysiphales). White, powdery patches spread over the leaves, worst in warm, humid weather. Remove the worst leaves and spray 1 part full-cream milk to 10 parts water. Read more

Common garden snail (Cornu aspersum). Snails and slugs chew young seedlings, often overnight. Pick them off by torchlight after rain, and protect direct-sown patches until plants toughen. Read more

Damping off (Pythium species and Rhizoctonia solani). Seedlings pinch in at soil level and topple over, rotted by these common soil fungi and water moulds. Read more

Prevention first

• Use new seed raising mix and scrubbed trays for every sowing.
• Keep to the spacing under Sowing Seeds, so air moves through the leaves.
• Water at soil level in the morning, so leaves dry by midday.
• Check shoot tips weekly in spring, and leave early aphids for ladybirds and hoverflies.

Tips

1. Save seed from heads that have dried with no petals left. Stored dry in the fridge, it can keep for up to four years.
2. Use the Single Flowered Mix as an edging along a sunny driveway or path.
3. Give children a patch of their own, because plants grow fast. See growing from seed with kids.