Like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, some of our best garden flowers started in the New World, went to Europe for culture, then returned to great acclaim. Gaillardia is one of these. Its daisy flowers usually come in shades of red or orange with fringed rays that look like their tips have been dipped in yellow paint. Plants bloom heavily from summer through fall, don’t mind the heat, and prosper with less water than most other high-performance flowers.
History and nomenclature
There are about 23 species of Gaillardia scattered across the Americas. Most are perennials native to North America, with the heaviest concentration in the southwestern United States. But the genus includes a few annuals and biennials, and a handful of species native to South America. Closely related to the Heleniums, all are in the sunflower (Asteraceae) family.
Many are called blanket flowers. Legend has it that a native American weaver was so good at her craft that when she died, her grave was blanketed with flowers colored as brilliantly as the blankets she had made.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: National Garden Bureau