Gaillardia Royale

The blanketflower or Gaillardia x 'Royale' blooms in radiant flowers from June to October. This large variety offers flowers similar to large crimson red daisies, edged with a beautiful golden yellow border. The centre evolves from yellow surrounded by red to brown-red at maturity. It forms a beautiful clump of stems and medium green fuzzy foliage. This short-lived perennial has robust health, tolerating cold, heat and drought, and poor rocky soils, but dislikes humidity. It is one of those virtually foolproof perennials that find their place in all gardens, regardless of style!

The Gaillardia x grandiflora is a horticultural hybrid resulting from the cross-breeding between the Gaillardia aristata, a perennial native to the great central plains of North America, and the Gaillardia pulchella, an almost annual plant native to northern Mexico and the southern and central 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 excellent hardiness and increased longevity, and from the second its extraordinary floriferousness, rapid growth, and extremely undemanding nature. 'Royale' forms a strong clump of 70 cm (28in) in all directions, covered from summer to autumn with large heads measuring 4 to 7 cm (2 to 3in), where pollinating insects gather. They are bicoloured, with their two red and yellow shades appearing particularly vibrant. The whole is animated by a very contrasting bicoloured centre, with a yellow central disc and a peripheral circle of tiny blood-red florets. The foliage, mainly basal, is composed of narrow, slightly lobed or deeply cut, medium green and fuzzy leaves.

Slightly outdated today, blanketflowers, along with Coreopsis grandiflora and Gaura, are nevertheless among the champions of floral abundance. Even the wild form G. aristata proves to be very floriferous. Their only flaw is their poor tolerance to ambient humidity, even in well-drained soil. In gardens in hotter southern regions, especially in mediocre soils, this plant is truly a blessing: it will accompany lavenders, blood-red or ash-grey perennial geraniums, artemisias and grasses, which are equally undemanding and floriferous plants.