Blanket flower

Blanket flower: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Loose, bushy clump 30–60 cm high and 40–45 cm wide; dwarf cultivars stay compact.

Leaves

Lance-shaped, grey-green and roughly hairy, sometimes toothed or lobed, mainly in a rosette at the base.

Flower

Flower heads 6–10 cm across with broad ray petals ending in three teeth, around a domed centre.

Colour

Red with yellow tips, yellow, orange or wine red; the centre is red-brown.

Fruit

A round, bristly seed head that lasts a long time.

Roots

Fairly shallow and fleshy; they rot in wet soil.

Flowering: June–October · Sowing: February–April · Plants: April–May · Pruning: August

Why grow it?

• Flowers for five months, from June into October, if you remove the spent blooms.
• Warm, cheerful colours that suit a prairie or gravel garden.
• Bees and butterflies visit the flowers all summer long.
• Tolerates heat, drought and poor soil better than most perennials.
• A sturdy cut flower; the domed seed heads look good in a bouquet too.

Blanket flower: where does it grow best?

• Full sun, the warmest spot in the garden; in shade it flowers poorly and falls apart.
• Poor to moderately fertile, free-draining sandy soil or loam, acid to chalky.
• Dry to normal: wet soil in winter is the main reason it disappears.
• Plant 35–45 cm apart, so air can move between the plants.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand or loam

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry

Size

0.6 m tall, 0.45 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Coneflower: A prairie plant with the same needs; pink or white flowers beside the warm shades.
• Feather grass: Fine, swaying stems among the bright flowers.
• Catmint: Blue flowers as a calm contrast, also drought-tolerant.
• Balkan clary: Violet-blue spikes in the same sunny, dry soil.
• Yarrow: Flat flower heads in yellow or terracotta.

Blanket flower: when and how to plant it?

Plant in April–May.

1. Plant in April–May; young plants you have raised yourself only go out after mid-May.
2. Loosen the soil and mix coarse sand or gravel into heavy soil. Do not feed.
3. Set the plant at the same depth as in the pot, no deeper, so the crown does not rot.
4. Allow 35–45 cm between plants.
5. Water after planting and in dry spells for the first few weeks; after that hardly at all.

Care

Water

Only until established and during weeks of drought. Too much water makes it floppy and short-lived.

Feeding

Not needed. Rich soil gives floppy stems and fewer flowers.

Deadheading

Remove spent flowers regularly: it will then keep flowering into October.

Support

Taller cultivars sometimes flop open; a few twigs or a low plant support help.

Cutting back

Cut back in August so it forms new rosettes and survives the winter better.

Tip: Give it no compost or fertiliser: on poor, dry soil it stays more compact, flowers better and lives longer.

Blanket flower: when to prune it?

Pruning months: August.

When: In August, plus deadheading all summer.

How:

• In August, cut the flower stems back to 10–15 cm above the ground; leave the leaf rosette at the base.
• It then forms new rosettes, often flowers a little more in autumn and lives longer.
• Throughout the summer, cut spent flowers back to just above a leaf.
• In April, clear away dead leaves without cutting down to the ground.

Caution: Do not cut down to the ground in late autumn: the plant needs to go into winter with its leaf rosettes.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Sow indoors in February–April at 18–20 °C; press the seed lightly onto the surface without covering it. It germinates in 1–3 weeks; prick out and plant out after mid-May. Cultivars do not always come true from seed.

Root cuttings

In winter, lay 5 cm pieces of root in a pot of sandy compost and keep cool and frost-free; new plants appear in spring.

Division

In April, lift an older clump and take off the young rosettes at the edge with their roots.

Blanket flower: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Hardy to about −30 °C, but only in dry, free-draining soil.
• Wet winters are the biggest risk: plant it on a slope, in gravel or in a raised bed.
• Leave the leaf rosettes and do not cover with leaves or mulch: they hold moisture.
• In a pot: move it under an overhang in winter and water sparingly.

Diseases and pests

• Short life: The plant often disappears after 2–3 years. Cut it back in August, plant it in dry soil and raise new plants from seed or cuttings in good time.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in late summer. Space plants well, water at the base and remove affected leaves.
• Slugs: They eat young plants and rosettes in spring. Pick them off in the evening and protect young plants until they are sturdy.
• Flopping: In rich soil or in shade the stems fall open. Choose a poorer, sunny spot or give a little support.

Through the year

• February: Sow indoors.
• March: Sow indoors. Prick out seedlings.
• April: Sow indoors. Plant. Clear away dead leaves.
• May: Plant. Plant out seedlings after mid-May.
• June: Flowering begins. Deadhead.
• July: Flowering. Deadhead. Cut flowers for the vase.
• August: Cut the flower stems back to 10–15 cm.
• September: Repeat flowering. Deadhead.
• October: Last flowers.
• December: Take root cuttings. Keep plants dry.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Did you know?

• The genus is named after Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate and patron of botany.
• The name blanket flower is said to refer to the bright colours and patterns of blankets woven by Native American peoples.
• Its annual parent, Gaillardia pulchella, is the official state wildflower of Oklahoma.