Burgundy Blanket Flower

With its long bloom time and ease of care, the Burgundy Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata Burgundy) is a beautiful addition to a sunny garden. In early summer, blooms emerge from sturdy stems with wine-red petals, dark red-and-yellow eyes, perched atop a mass of fuzzy gray-green leaves. The Burgundy Blanket Flower is a perfect plant for pollinator gardens, providing nectar early in the year as well as late in the fall. These mounded perennials grow 20-30 inches tall and 12-16 inches wide. The Burgundy Blanket flower is both heat and drought tolerant, making it a low maintenance plant that thrives in drier areas and in warmer climates. The flowers of this American-native plant are excellent as cut flowers, and deadheading can encourage continuous blooms. The Burgundy Blanket Flower can be grown alone in a garden bed or container, but also looks amazing in mass plantings and along garden borders. The Blanket Flower is also deer and rabbit resistant. Burgundy Blanket Flower Care The Burgundy Blanket Flower is an easy-going perennial, not needing soil of a particular pH and growing well in normal to sandy soil. In fact, Blanket Flower thrives in poor, dry soils, reacting negatively to fertilizer more often than not, so avoid fertilizing. Once established, Blanket Flower is drought tolerant, slightly prone to root rot, and therefore prefers to dry out a bit in between waterings. Plant the Burgundy Blanket Flower in full sun and in a hole that is twice the width and the same depth as the root ball. The Burgundy Blanket Flower is a continuous bloomer but benefits from occasional deadheading, which gives the plant a neater look and encourages additional blooms. As an herbaceous perennial, Blanket Flower often dies back to the ground in the winter. In the early spring, any remaining leaves and branches can be trimmed back as new growth comes in. The Burgundy Blanket Flowers shape, size, and drought tolerance make it an excellent thriller in containers, providing both height and color when paired with fillers and spillers. Burgundy Blanket Flower Spacing Place the Burgundy Blanket Flower about 15 inches from the nearest plant, giving this fast-growing perennial space to fill out. In mass plantings, plants can be planted slightly closer together. When choosing a container, be sure to choose one that is at least 12 in diameter and has proper drainage.