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Botanical name: Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Arizona Sun’
Compact with excellent heat and drought tolerance, this variety produces gorgeous red flowers with golden yellow tips on mounds of green foliage; blooming from summer to fall, great for sunny beds, borders and containers; excellent cut flower.
Other names: Blanketflower, Indian Blanket
| Hardiness zone | 2a |
|---|---|
| Flower color | red |
| Foliage type | deciduous * |
| Plant form | mounded |
| Mature height | 8 inches (12 inches with the flowers) |
| Spread | 15 inches |
| Light requirements | full sun |
| Moisture requirements | dry to average |
| Plant origin | hybrid |
* deciduous = loses leaves in winter
Arizona Sun Blanket Flower has masses of beautiful red daisy flowers with brick red eyes and yellow tips at the ends of the stems from early summer to mid fall, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its tomentose narrow leaves remain green in color throughout the season. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Arizona Sun Blanket Flower is a dense herbaceous perennial with a mounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.
This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Arizona Sun Blanket Flower is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Mass Planting, Rock/Alpine Gardens, Border Edging, General Garden Use, Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens, Container Planting
Arizona Sun Blanket Flower will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years.
This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Arizona Sun Blanket Flower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
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