Gaillardia SpinTop® Orange Halo

Gaillardia SpinTop® Orange Halo: Fiery Petals Wearing a Golden Halo

This blanket flower showed up with a yellow halo on every petal and the attitude of somebody who definitely did not earn it. Red-orange daisies around dark centres, all summer, zero breaks. THE DEER CAN'T STAND IT. THE BUTTERFLIES CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Gaillardia aristata 'Bargaispinor'
• Common Name: Blanket Flower
• Series: SpinTop®, bred by Dümmen Orange and sold by Proven Winners®
• Height: 30 cm (12 in)
• Spread: 30 cm (12 in)
• Flowers: Red-orange daisies with a yellow halo at the tips and a dark burgundy centre, borne in clusters
• Bloom Time: Summer to fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Green leaves in a tidy, mounded clump
• Features: Long blooming
• Plant Patent: USPP 29,205

Where to Plant: It's sized for the front of a sunny border, rock gardens and containers. It also suits a dry, sunny slope or a gravel garden where you want colour without a hose on standby.

Companion Plants: Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' makes an easy front-row partner, with blue pincushions from May to October at a similar height. Plant Perovskia 'Denim 'n Lace' behind for airy blue spires from midsummer into fall that rise well above the orange flowers. Tuck in Allium atropurpureum for purple globes in May and June, before the blanket flower starts. It is a sunny, dry-soil combination that stays in colour from spring to 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 came from a planned cross made in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, in July 2013 by breeder Ellen van Sambeek, and was selected in early 2014. It was first held by the Dutch firm Bartels Stek and later by Dümmen Group, which markets the SpinTop® series.

Final Thoughts: Give it full sun and walk away. It handles the rest like a teenager who swears they're an angel. HALO OPTIONAL. ATTITUDE INCLUDED.