Gaillardia Torchlight - seeds

The perennial Gaillardia Fackelschein, also known as Torchlight, is distinguished by its flowers with a yellow and brown heart, surrounded by red, toothed petals bordered by a yellow edge in two rows. It is a generous variety, flowering abundantly throughout the summer and beyond. Characterised by large daisy-like flowers and tall stems, they are particularly suitable as cut flowers. Under the influence of wind or the weight of the large flowers, the stems sometimes tend to bend, a more sheltered situation or staking can remedy this. Although this continuously flowering perennial is relatively short-lived, it stands out for its exemplary frugality, hardiness, and drought resistance. Opt for a sunny location in rocky or sandy, dry soil, whether it be in paving, a scree garden, a rockery, or even a large pot on the terrace.

Gaillardia x grandiflora is a horticultural hybrid resulting from the cross-breeding between Gaillardia aristata, a perennial native to the great central plains of North America, and Gaillardia pulchella, an almost annual plant native to northern Mexico and the south and centre of the United States. Belonging, like its two parents and like the sunflower, to the large family of asteraceae, this hybrid has inherited from its first parent a beautiful hardiness and increased longevity, and from the second its extraordinary floriferousness, rapid growth, and extreme frugality.

The 'Fackelschein' variety is also known by the synonym 'Torchlight' because of its very bright illuminating flowers. Forming a clump 70 cm tall and 40 cm wide, it is adorned with large flower heads 8 to 12 cm in diameter from summer to autumn, attracting pollinating insects. The bicoloured petals are orange and red with golden yellow tips and frame a highly contrasting bicoloured heart, composed of a central yellow disk surrounded by tiny blood-red florets. The greyish-green, slightly fuzzy foliage has narrow, slightly lobed or deeply cut leaves. Even at the end of flowering, the flowers of this variety retain a distinctive appeal, somewhat like the beauty of echinaceas.

Gaillardia thrives in light, well-drained, and rich soils, and easily withstands drought and heat, so don't hesitate to plant it in full sun. Due to its tendency to self-seed abundantly, it is recommended to remove faded flowers to encourage new blooms and prevent excessive spreading. Although considered somewhat outdated nowadays, gaillardias, alongside grandiflora coreopsis and gauras, remain among the champions of floral abundance. Even the wild variety Gaillardia aristata proves to be very floriferous. The main drawback of these plants is their sensitivity to ambient humidity, even in well-drained soil. In warm gardens, especially in average quality soils, gaillardia proves to be a real boon, harmoniously associating with lavenders, rosemarys, cotton lavenders, rockroses, Geranium sanguineum, as well as wormwoods and grasses like Stipa, all plants as frugal as they are floriferous. In a meadow, consider associating leucanthemums or scabiosas with your gaillardias.