Gaillardia 'Mesa Peach'

Gaillardia 'Mesa Peach': Sunset Shades That Never Clock Out

Peach and golden-yellow petals around a darker centre, like a sunrise that slept in and still looks this good. 'Mesa Peach' blooms nonstop, shrugs off drought and keeps the deer at a distance. PEACHY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia × grandiflora 'PAS907056'
• Common Name: Blanket Flower
• Series: Mesa, from PanAmerican Seed
• Height: 36–41 cm (14–16 in)
• Spread: 51–56 cm (20–22 in)
• Flowers: Large peach and golden-yellow bicolour daisies with a darker centre
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Green, slightly hairy leaves on an upright, well-branched plant
• Features: Long blooming

Where to Plant: Use it in a hot, dry border, in large containers or in a pollinator garden, and its tidy habit suits mass plantings along a sunny walk. Its softer colouring mixes more easily than the classic red-and-yellow types.

Companion Plants: Iris 'Dream Stuff' adds white flowers in May and June at 25 cm, before the blanket flowers start. Nepeta Whispurr™ Pink brings soft pink flowers from June to September. Pennisetum Prairie Winds® 'Lemon Squeeze' adds an arching grass that flowers from July to October. Peach, pink and soft green make a gentle, sunny mix.

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: The Mesa series comes from PanAmerican Seed, bred as an F1 hybrid blanket flower grown from seed with a more uniform habit and flowering time than older strains, and its sister 'Mesa Yellow' won an All-America Selections award in 2010. Mesa plants are crosses of Gaillardia aristata and G. pulchella, the parents of all G. × grandiflora hybrids.

Final Thoughts: Pair it with blue flowers and let the colours flirt. THE SOFTEST COLOUR WITH THE TOUGHEST ATTITUDE.