Saturday, June 16, 2018

A Blanket of Flowers



There are not many truly red flowers in my garden apart from the poppies. However, a few years ago I found the red flowering Gaillardia and brought three of them home. This is gaillardia x grandiflora "Burgundy", or more commonly known as Blanket Flower.

There is a good variety of blanket flowers available. I tried a few of them only to find out that they are very short lived - at least in my garden. A yellow variety "Sunrise sunset" has completely disappeared in one location, but does pretty well in another part in my garden. But this red one has been performing really well and is a real stunner. Last year I bought two more which to my surprise produced longer stalks which is simply lovely.

Bees love them.


They do well both in humid and dry conditions, but generally do not need much water once established. It seems to be the perfect choice for my low water garden.

They start as small flowers with tiny petals that eventually open to the stunning flower you see in the top picture.



They keep for quite a while, feeding bees and other nectar loving insects. But their beauty is not over when eventually the flowers fade and the petals fall. On the contrary. They develop a big round seed head that is quite spectacular on its own.



I am planning to plant some more of these gaillardias in a different part of the garden and see how they do there. Gardening involves so much trial and error, but it's always exciting.




11 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

So very lovely. Thank you. You are inspiring me to try and grow these beauties again.
I am in awe of your photography too - particularly the bee shot.

Red Rose Alley said...

What a pretty flower this is. Have never heard of it before. I love the picture of the flower and cob webs. It shows the true beauty of nature. And the one with the bee is just beautiful. Wonderful photos, Carola. I always stop for red flowers. : )

~Sheri

La Vie Quotidienne said...

These are lovely. Guillardias are wonderful plants. In my hot inland garden the orange ones do much better. However, I really like the red ones and will add more and as you said try them in different parts of the garden. The pure yellows are lovely too but I don't see them offered very often. Your garden must be looking spectacular!

Magdalena said...

Liebe Carola, die Bilder sind absolut spektakulär.
LG
Magdalena

Karen Lakis said...

I love the way you captured this flower at various stages of blooming. I am hoping my bee balm does well this year. I planted it last year and it looked as though it may not make it, but the plant seems to be coming in strong, this spring. I love the red flowers! I agree - gardening is a lot of trial and error. It looks as though yours is thriving!

Jeanie said...

That's a dazzler. I love each and every stage of it!

Sarah Huizenga said...

I use to work for a friend in a commercial garden. The blanket flowers were among my favorites. Don't have much success with them here at my house though.

KB said...

That's a glorious flower! We have wild blanket flowers which are the yellow/gold variety. I adore your red ones... and your great photos of the different stages of blooming.

Sue (this n that) said...

It's a really gorgeous plant. I like your red version!

Magic Love Crow said...

Truly stunning flowers! I love your photos so much!! Thankyou for the beauty! Big Hugs!

Michelle B said...

Stunning photographs! I loved seeing the beauty of the flower at each stage. And also the bugs. :)