Plant Database / Texas Natives / Blanketflower (Gaillardia)
Texas Natives

Blanketflower (Gaillardia)

Gaillardia pulchella
Asteraceae (Daisy)

A Texas roadside native — red-and-yellow 'firewheel' blooms that take blazing sun and sandy soil.

Texas nativeDrought-toughFull sunPollinatorLow waterBeginner-friendly
Blanketflower (Gaillardia) (Gaillardia pulchella) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek
Sun
Full sun
Water
Very low
Soil
Sandy, lean
pH
6.0–7.5
Hardiness
Native annual/perennial
Height
1–2 ft
Spacing
12 in
Days to harvest
Blooms first year

What it is

Blanketflower (Gaillardia) (Gaillardia pulchella) is in the Asteraceae (Daisy) family. A Texas roadside native — red-and-yellow 'firewheel' blooms that take blazing sun and sandy soil.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it very low, and give it sandy, lean soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.5. Space plants about 12 in apart. Expect roughly Blooms first year. Native annual/perennial.

How it's used

Blanketflower (Gaillardia) is used: ornamental; pollinator.

🔎 How to identify it

  • Hairy gray-green leaves
  • Red center, yellow-tipped petals
  • Self-sows on poor ground

Not for eating

Grown for the garden, soil, or pollinators — not as food.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.