Gaillardia SpinTop® Copper Sun

Gaillardia SpinTop® Copper Sun: Copper Pinwheels That Never Tarnish

Copper-orange petals with yellow tips, each one fluted and ruffled like somebody went at the edges with a curling iron. This blanket flower is ALWAYS HAVING A GOOD HAIR DAY, even in a dry spell.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia aristata 'Dogailspincopsun'
• Common Name: Blanket Flower
• Series: SpinTop®, from Dümmen Orange
• Height: 25–30 cm (10–12 in)
• Spread: 30–40 cm (12–16 in)
• Flowers: Large copper-orange daisies with yellow tips and fluted, ruffled petal ends
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Green leaves in a compact, rounded mound
• Features: Long blooming

Where to Plant: Plant it at the front of a hot-colour border, in a rock garden, or in a pot on a sunny step. It's a strong candidate for the dry strip along a driveway.

Companion Plants: Use Copper Sun in a sunny, dry bed with lavender-blue pincushions, white milkweed and a red sedum edge. Sedum 'Red Carpet' creeps at 8 to 15 cm with rosy-red flowers from June to August. Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' adds lavender-blue pincushions at 30 to 45 cm from May to October. Asclepias 'Ice Ballet' brings white milkweed at 90 to 120 cm from July to September. Schizachyrium 'Little Red Fox' grows to 60 to 75 cm and turns red and copper in fall.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average to lean, well-drained soil. Sandy or gravelly ground is ideal. Rich, wet soil makes blanket flowers floppy and short-lived, and heavy clay that stays soggy in winter is the main reason they don't come back. If you garden on clay, plant on a slope, in a raised bed, or work in grit first. Water regularly the first season, then only during long dry spells. Skip the fertilizer. Deadhead spent flowers to keep new buds coming. Blanket flowers can be short-lived. Cutting the plant back by about half in late summer encourages fresh leafy growth that helps it through winter, and dividing every two or three years in spring keeps it vigorous. Leave the foliage in place over winter and tidy it up in spring.

History: This plant was bred in the Netherlands by Ellen van Sambeek for Dümmen Orange, from an open-pollinated cross made in Aalsmeer in 2014, and selected in 2015. The SpinTop® series was bred to flower in its first year and keep a compact, branching habit.

Final Thoughts: Give it sun and get out of the way. THE COPPER NEVER TARNISHES.