Gaillardia pulchella: Uses (Ethnobotany)
Teas made from the plant helped gastro-instestinal problems, skin disorders, and bathing in the tea provided pain relief to nursing mothers. The Kiowa people believed the plant brought good luck.
Plant Profile: Gaillardia pulchella
Taxonomy: Gaillardia pulchellaNames
Annual Gaillardia, Beach Blanket-flower, Bedding Gaillardia, Blanket Flower, Firewheel, Gaillardia, Girasol Rojo, Indian Blanket Flower
Phonetic Spelling:gay-LAR-dee-ah pul-KEL-ah
Genus:Gaillardia
Species:pulchella
Family:Asteraceae
These vibrant flowers thrive abundantly on barrier islands, flourishing in the soft sands that line beach pathways. They exhibit remarkable resilience to both drought and salt, having become well-established from North Carolina down to Florida, with North Carolina marking their northernmost range.
To cultivate these plants, sow the seeds directly into the soil in the fall and lightly rake them in. Ensure they receive consistent moisture to promote successful germination. They adapt well to container gardening or can be planted in groups to create stunning bursts of warm color in your landscape. They are suitable for borders, rock gardens, or cottage gardens, and can also be allowed to spread naturally in meadows.
In terms of pests and diseases, there are no significant issues to worry about, although it's advisable to keep an eye out for aphids and thrips. It's important to note that Indian Blanket Flowers do not thrive in waterlogged conditions.
Belonging to the Asteraceae (Compositae) family, these plants can be easily identified by their erect, hairy stems, reaching heights of 1.5 to 2 feet. They bloom from summer through fall and are popular for use as cut flowers, in planters, and as bedding plants, demonstrating excellent drought resistance.
This distinctive herb features enlarged, bicolored disc flowers reminiscent of the bold colors traditionally used by Native Americans in their woven Indian blankets. They prefer full sun, are adaptable to a variety of garden soils, can tolerate light shade, and generally face minimal pest or disease challenges.
Gaillardia pulchella Feature Summary
Gaillardia pulchella Image Gallery
Tags
#red
#showy flowers
#yellow
#full sun tolerant
#heat tolerant
#annual
#drought tolerant
#orange
#wildlife plant
#nectar plant
#salt tolerant
#low maintenance
#fall interest
#cottage garden
#mass planting
#food source
#long-lasting flowers
#summer flowers
#daisy-like
#coastal plants
#naturalizes
#borders
#self-seeding
#warm color
#wildflower garden
#fantz
#food source summer
#food source winter
#food source fall
#food source nectar
#food source pollen
#piedmont mountains UPL
#coastal UPL
#bird friendly
#food source hard mast fruit
#audubon
#meadows
#container plants
Similar Plants
Gaillardia pulchella is often confused with:
Gaillardia pulchella Feature Summary
Attributes
Teas made from the plant helped gastro-instestinal problems, skin disorders, and bathing in the tea provided pain relief to nursing mothers. The Kiowa people believed the plant brought good luck.
Central & S. U.S.A. to N. Mexico
Nectar from the flowers attracts butterflies, seeds attract goldfinches so consider leaving seed heads after flowering.
Annual
Fruit
Displays from May to January
Summer
Fall
Winter
Flowers
Showy long-lasting daisy-like flower heads appear from spring to the first frost. Flowers are orange-red rays with 3-toothed yellow tips 1"-2" across. Disk flowers in the center are purple-brown. A terminal head, solitary on elongate peduncles to 6" long, 1.5-2" diam.; receptable reddish to orangish-red pappus; involucral bracts green. Ray flowers to 3/4", few, red with yellow tips or red; disc flowers numerous, enlarged, tube funnel-shaped, red, lips yellow.
Purple/Lavender
Gold/Yellow
Red/Burgundy
Brown/Copper
Orange
Showy
Long Bloom Season
Long-lasting
Spring
Summer
Fall
7 - 20 petals/rays
Radial
3-6 inches
Leaves
Gray-green oblong to oblanceolate 3" long leaves. Alternate, simple, grayish-green, bluntly acute, attenuate, hirsute, oblong to oblanceolate; lower leaves 4.5-6" long, coarsely toothed to entire, short-petiolate to sessile; upper leaves reduced, 1.5-3" long, coarsely-toothed to entire, sessile, subclasping.
Green
Gray/Silver
Simple
Alternate
Oblong
Oblanceolate
Entire
1-3 inches
Stem
Whole Plant Traits
Annual
Native Plant
Wildflower
Erect
Clumping
Rapid
Low
Coarse
Cultural Conditions
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Good Drainage
Occasionally Dry
12 inches-3 feet
Coastal
4a
4b
5b
5a
6a
6b
7a
7b
8b
8a
2a
2b
3a
3b
9a
9b
10a
10b
11a
11b
Sand
Landscape
Drought Tolerant Garden
Rock Garden
Butterfly Garden
Children's Garden
Cottage Garden
Border
Mass Planting
Drought
Heat
Salt
Container
Meadow
Naturalized Area
Butterflies
Songbirds
Gaillardia pulchella Image Gallery
Gaillardia pulchella Attributes
Gaillardia pulchella: Country Or Region Of Origin
Central & S. U.S.A. to N. Mexico
Gaillardia pulchella: Wildlife Value
Nectar from the flowers attracts butterflies, seeds attract goldfinches so consider leaving seed heads after flowering.
Gaillardia pulchella: Life Cycle
Annual
Biennial
Bulb
Perennial
Woody
Gaillardia pulchella: Recommended Propagation Strategy
Division
Grafting
Layering
Leaf Cutting
Root Cutting
Seed
Stem Cutting
Gaillardia pulchella Fruit
Gaillardia pulchella: Fruit Description
Displays from May to January
Gaillardia pulchella: Display/Harvest Time
Fall
Spring
Summer
Winter
Gaillardia pulchella Flowers
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Description
Showy long-lasting daisy-like flower heads appear from spring to the first frost. Flowers are orange-red rays with 3-toothed yellow tips 1"-2" across. Disk flowers in the center are purple-brown. A terminal head, solitary on elongate peduncles to 6" long, 1.5-2" diam.; receptable reddish to orangish-red pappus; involucral bracts green. Ray flowers to 3/4", few, red with yellow tips or red; disc flowers numerous, enlarged, tube funnel-shaped, red, lips yellow.
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Color
Brown/Copper
Gold/Yellow
Orange
Purple/Lavender
Red/Burgundy
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Inflorescence
Catkin
Corymb
Cyme
Head
Insignificant
Panicle
Raceme
Solitary
Spadix
Spike
Umbel
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Value To Gardener
Edible
Fragrant
Good Cut
Good Dried
Long Bloom Season
Long-lasting
Showy
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Bloom Time
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Petals
2-3 rays/petals
4-5 petals/rays
6 petals/rays
7 - 20 petals/rays
asymmetrical petals
Bracts
Colored Sepals
fused petals
more than 20 petals/rays
Tepals
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Shape
Bell
Cross
Crown
Cup
Dome
Funnel
Irregular
Lipped
Radial
Saucer
Star
Trumpet
Tubular
Urn
Wheel
Gaillardia pulchella: Flower Size
1-3 inches
3-6 inches
< 1 inch
> 6 inches
Gaillardia pulchella Leaves
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Description
Gray-green oblong to oblanceolate 3" long leaves. Alternate, simple, grayish-green, bluntly acute, attenuate, hirsute, oblong to oblanceolate; lower leaves 4.5-6" long, coarsely toothed to entire, short-petiolate to sessile; upper leaves reduced, 1.5-3" long, coarsely-toothed to entire, sessile, subclasping.
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Color
Gray/Silver
Green
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Fronds
Needles
Sheath
Simple
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Arrangement
Alternate
Opposite
Other/more complex
Rosulate
Whorled
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Shape
Acicular
Auriculate
Cordate
Cuneate
Deltoid
Elliptical
Filiform
Lanceolate
Linear
Oblanceolate
Oblong
Obovate
Obtuse
Orbicular
Ovate
Palmasect
Palmatifid
Peltate
Pinnatifid
Pinnatisect
Reniform
Rhomboidal
Spatulate
Subcordate
Subulate
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Margin
Crenate
Crenulate
Dentate
Denticulate
Doubly Crenate
Doubly Dentate
Doubly Serrate
Entire
Lobed
Serrate
Sinuate
Undulate
Gaillardia pulchella: Hairs Present
No
Yes
Gaillardia pulchella: Leaf Length
< 1 inch
1-3 inches
3-6 inches
> 6 inches
Gaillardia pulchella Stem
Gaillardia pulchella: Stem Description
Upright stems have few leaves toward the top
Gaillardia pulchella: Stem Color
Green
Gaillardia pulchella: Stem Is Aromatic
No
Yes
Gaillardia pulchella Whole Plant Traits
Gaillardia pulchella: Plant Type
Annual
Bulb
Carnivorous
Edible
Epiphyte
Fern
Ground Cover
Herb
Herbaceous Perennial
Houseplant
Mushroom
Native Plant
Ornamental Grasses and Sedges
Perennial
Poisonous
Rose
Shrub
Succulent
Tree
Turfgrass
Vegetable
Vine
Water Plant
Weed
Wildflower
Gaillardia pulchella: Habit/Form
Arching
Ascending
Broad
Cascading
Climbing
Clumping
Columnar
Conical
Creeping
Dense
Erect
Horizontal
Irregular
Mounding
Multi-stemmed
Multi-trunked
Open
Oval
Prostrate
Pyramidal
Rounded
Spreading
Vase
Weeping
Gaillardia pulchella: Growth Rate
Slow
Medium
Rapid
Gaillardia pulchella: Maintenance
Low
Medium
High
Gaillardia pulchella: Texture
Fine
Medium
Coarse
Gaillardia pulchella Cultural Conditions
Gaillardia pulchella: Light
Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day)
Deep shade (Less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight)
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Gaillardia pulchella: Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Alkaline (>8.0)
Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Gaillardia pulchella: Soil Drainage
Frequent Standing Water
Good Drainage
Moist
Occasional Flooding
Occasionally Dry
Occasionally Wet
Very Dry
Gaillardia pulchella: Available Space To Plant
12 inches-3 feet
12-24 feet
24-60 feet
3 feet-6 feet
6-feet-12 feet
Less than 12 inches
more than 60 feet
Gaillardia pulchella: NC Region
Coastal
Mountains
Piedmont
Gaillardia pulchella: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
10a
10b
11a
11b
2a
2b
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
Gaillardia pulchella: Soil Texture
Clay
High Organic Matter
Loam (Silt)
Sand
Shallow Rocky
Gaillardia pulchella Landscape
Gaillardia pulchella: Landscape Theme
Asian Garden
Butterfly Garden
Children's Garden
Cottage Garden
Cutting Garden
Drought Tolerant Garden
Edible Garden
English Garden
Fairy Garden
Garden for the Blind
Native Garden
Nighttime Garden
Pollinator Garden
Rain Garden
Rock Garden
Shade Garden
Water Garden
Winter Garden
Gaillardia pulchella: Design Feature
Accent
Barrier
Border
Flowering Tree
Foundation Planting
Hedge
Mass Planting
Screen/Privacy
Security
Shade Tree
Small groups
Small Tree
Specimen
Street Tree
Understory Tree
Gaillardia pulchella: Resistance To Challenges
Black Walnut
Compaction
Deer
Diseases
Drought
Dry Soil
Erosion
Fire
Foot Traffic
Heat
Heavy Shade
Humidity
Insect Pests
Pollution
Poor Soil
Rabbits
Salt
Slugs
Squirrels
Storm damage
Urban Conditions
Voles
Wet Soil
Wind
Gaillardia pulchella: Landscape Location
Coastal
Container
Hanging Baskets
Houseplants
Lawn
Meadow
Naturalized Area
Near Septic
Patio
Pond
Pool/Hardscape
Recreational Play Area
Riparian
Rock Wall
Slope/Bank
Small Space
Vertical Spaces
Walkways
Woodland
Gaillardia pulchella: Attracts
Bats
Bees
Butterflies
Frogs
Hummingbirds
Moths
Pollinators
Predatory Insects
Reptiles
Small Mammals
Songbirds
Specialized Bees
