Perennial of the Month-- November 2008

(gal-AR-dee-ah ) (pronunciation at link, turn up volume if too low)

Common name: Oranges and Lemons gaillardia/blanket flower

Family: Asteraceae, aster/composite

Height x width: 18-24in. x 12-18in

Growth rate, habit: moderate, erect and compact

Foliage: medium green, obovate to oblong-elliptic, alternate, lower leaves occasionally with one or more lobes; up to 4in. long; slightly hairy leaf surfaces

Flowers: "petals" (ray flowers) pale orange with yellow tips, cone (disc flowers) orange with yellow centers; terminal on branches and subbranches; through most the season from May (south) or June (north), individual blooms lasting two weeks or more

Hardiness: USDA zone (4)5-9 (has proven hardy in zone 4a Vermont over 3 years)

Soil: average, well-drained; tolerates some drought once established

Light: full sun, may tolerate some shade with less flowering

Pests and problems: none serious, may show some downy mildew under moist conditions

Landscape habit, uses: borders, containers, mased, butterflies; combine with annuals or in front of grasses such as feather reed grass or switchgrass, plumbago (zone 5), bellflowers, salvia, stoke's aster, tickseed

Other interest: selected in the UK by nurserywoman Rosmary Hardy (Whitchurch, Hants) as a chance seedling in 2002 from cultivar 'Dazzler', introduced at the Chelsea show in 2004 and in the U.S. in 2006; noted for attractive flower colors, long bloom; rabbit and deer resistant; from native U.S. species, common name from members of this genus blanketing prairies in the past

Other culture: removing spent flowers (deadhead) may promote more bloom but isn't necessary, cut back to ground in late fall or early spring

Propagation: cuttings, (not from seeds as flowers are sterile), commercially by licensed propagators as patented (USPP 17,092)

Sources:  specialty perennial nurseries, North Creek Nurseries (wholesale, 2008), Walters Gardens (wholesale, 2008)