Gaillardia, bursts of color

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Gaillardia is a perennial that procures beautiful blooming, original and abundant.

Summary of key Gaillardia facts

Name – Gaillardia x grandiflora
Family – Asteraceae
Type – perennial

Height – 12 to to 28 inches (30 to 70 cm)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary

Flowering – June to September
Care – easy

All summer long, this flower bestows us with warm and bright colors that make it a very ornamental plant.

Planting gaillardia

How to plant gaillardia

For plants purchased in nursery pots or containers, preferably choose to plant in spring in a blend of earth and special “flower plant” or geranium soil mix.

• Elect to plant in an emplacement that receives a lot of direct sun, that is where it will bloom best.
• Keep a distance of around 16 to 20 inches (30 to 40 cm) between plants.
• Gaillardia will deal with all kinds of soil but it will bear most flowers in light and well drained soil.

Sowing gaillardia

It’s also an option to perform direct sowing in May or June, you’ll succeed with ease!

Simply collect the seeds from the little capitulum pods when they’ve wilted away.

• Dry them off,
• store them over winter in an envelope away from any moisture,
• and sow anew in spring, results are guaranteed!

Pruning and caring for gaillardia

Gaillardia is a perennial in mild and warm climates but can be grown as an annual in colder climates.

Add granulated flower plant fertilizer in spring, this should ensure you get a very beautiful blooming.

When to prune gaillardia

Since beautiful year-long bunches of flowers are quite hard to get in consecutive years, you must cut the plant back short at the end of summer, thus sacrificing the fall blooming.

This will ensure that proper reserves will have been collected by the plant and it will bloom well in the following year.

• Otherwise, simply cut back very short after the fall blooming, in November.

Gaillardia est very hardy in that it resists diseases.

All there is to know about gaillardia

This perennial hosts radiant colors in hues of red and yellow, very warm and bright. They make an extraordinary pairing for the various greens that other plants have to offer.

In flower beds and along edges, and also in garden boxes, your terrace, garden or balcony will be lit up with these sparks of color.

If your gaillardia don’t grow back after winter, usually it is because they’ve succumbed to freezing. Certain gaillardia varieties are thus considered to be annuals.

A little bit of history concerning gaillardia

The Gaillardia genus belongs to the large Asteraceae family. The name “gaillardia” itself was christened by the famous botanist Auguste Denis Fougeroux de Bondaroy in 1786 as an homage to one of his friends, the magistrate and amateur botanist Gaillard de Charentonneau.

Gaillardia is also the flower symbol of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, and of Wallonia in Belgium.