Gaillardia SpinTop® Mango

Gaillardia SpinTop® Mango: Golden Mango Orange, Flowering Flat Out

Golden-orange daisies with ruffled yellow tips pile up so heavily it looks like the plant is running a fruit stand. This blanket flower is all mango, no sticky chin. TROPICAL VACATION, BACKYARD BUDGET.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia aristata 'Dogailspinman'
• Common Name: Blanket Flower
• Series: SpinTop®, from Dümmen Orange
• Height: 20–30 cm (8–12 in)
• Spread: 30 cm (12 in)
• Flowers: Large golden-orange daisies about 9 cm (3.5 in) across with yellow, ruffled petal tips
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Semi-glossy green leaves on a compact, upright mound
• Features: Heavy flowering

Where to Plant: It's short enough for the very front of a sunny border, a rock garden or a container on a hot balcony. Plant a few together for a solid band of colour.

Companion Plants: Set Salvia 'Blue Hill' just behind the blanket flower for a warm orange and cool blue mix. Its blue spikes bloom from June and repeat into early fall, matching the gaillardia's long run. Add Panicum Prairie Winds® 'Cheyenne Sky' at the back, where its 90 cm grass blades bring height and fine texture to late summer and fall. Run Thymus 'Elfin' along the front edge as a low carpet of pink in July and August. Everything here loves full sun and lean, well-drained soil.

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: SpinTop® Mango was bred by Ellen van Sambeek for Dümmen Orange in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, from a 2016 open pollination and selected in 2017 for its golden-orange flowers. It was the first orange in the SpinTop® series and won a silver medal in the novelty category at the Dutch Plantarium trade fair in 2022.

Final Thoughts: Pop a few in sunny pots on the deck and pour yourself something cold. THE GARDEN JUST WENT ALL-INCLUSIVE.