Gaillardia SpinTop® Red

Gaillardia SpinTop® Red: Low, Tidy and Seriously Red

Short, red and absolutely allergic to wilting. This blanket flower laughs at heat waves, shrugs at dry spells and keeps pumping out warm red daisies like it's got a quota to hit. FULL SUN? IT CALLS THAT A SPA DAY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia aristata
• Common Name: Blanket Flower
• Series: SpinTop®, from Dümmen Orange, also sold by Proven Winners®
• Height: 20–25 cm (8–10 in)
• Spread: 30 cm (12 in)
• Flowers: Large, warm red daisies with a dark centre, several per branching stem
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Bright green, in a compact mound
• Features: Compact, heat tolerant, good for cutting

Where to Plant: Put it where you want a low line of red: the edge of a sunny bed, a rock garden, or a container. The flowers cut well for small summer bouquets, and birds pick over the seed heads left in late season.

Companion Plants: Red blanket flowers look rich beside Lavandula 'Ellagance Purple', whose purple spikes open from June to August at about the same height. Anaphalis margaritacea 'New Snow' adds a taller row of white everlasting flowers from July to September that keeps the red from feeling heavy. Edge the bed with Sedum 'Angelina', a low yellow-flowered stonecrop that blooms through summer. All three thrive in full sun and 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® Red belongs to a series Dümmen Orange introduced in 2017, bred in the Netherlands for compact plants that flower in their first year. Its parent species, Gaillardia aristata, is native to the prairies and dry grasslands of western North America.

Final Thoughts: Snip a few for the kitchen table and watch it bloom right back out of spite. The deer won't touch it. THE HOSE CAN STAY COILED.