A magnificent, bright Gaillardia flower will become a worthy decoration of any suburban or personal plot. This beautiful perennial plant blooms for a long period of time and is unpretentious in care. Even a novice gardener can decorate any corner of a flower garden with Gaillardia or make a sunny flower bed. It remains to choose only the type of flower that you like or suit the landscape design of the garden.
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Description, types and varieties of Gaillardia with a photo
The plant is a sprawling bush that can grow up to 50-70 cm... Its branched curved stems surround lanceolate basal leaves. Inflorescences grow at the tips of the shoots, from which, after flowering, funnels with seeds are formed.
Large and unusually beautiful flowers have rich, vibrant colors. In the middle, they can be of different shades, but the border is almost always yellow. Gaillardia begins to bloom in early June and pleases with its bright color until frost. You can grow a flower in the garden, on the balcony or at home.
Grow in nature more than 25 types of Gaillardia... Only three types of this magnificent plant are widely used in floriculture.
Perennial Gaillardia hybrid
The most popular plant, which is the result of crossing the spinous Gaillardia with various species of wild annuals of this flower. Hybrids are a bush up to 70-80 cm high, each shoot of which is surrounded by slightly pubescent lanceolate leaves.
Double or semi-double flower baskets are surrounded by bright red, red-brown, orange, dark orange or dark yellow petals. The first flowers begin to bloom in early June. Duration of flowering up to two months. Among gardeners, the most popular varieties of hybrids:
- Variety "Zone" is a two-flowered plant up to 60 cm high. Inflorescences reach 10 cm in diameter. Petals are dark yellow or golden yellowish.
- The Kobold variety is a bush with branched stems and large, yellow inflorescences with a bright red edging. It reaches a height of about 40 cm.
- The "Arizona Sun" variety is a dwarf plant only 20 cm high. It blooms profusely from the beginning of summer until the very frost.
- Variety "Primavera" is a compact plant up to 25 cm high. One rosette can form eight peduncles with baskets, the diameter of which reaches 12 cm.
- The Burgunder variety is distinguished by bright, large, dark red inflorescences with small yellow blotches.
- The "Tokajer" variety is a tall perennial, the shoots of which are decorated with bright orange baskets.
- The "Golden Gobin" variety is a low-growing plant with solid yellow inflorescences. Blooms profusely for a long time.
Gaillardia spinous
Perennial originally from North America has densely pubescent straight stems that curve in the lower part of the bush. Basal leaves can be lanceolate, oval or oblong. The diameter of single inflorescences reaches 12 cm. Orange, yellow or copper-red flowers bloom in early June. A spinous Gaillardia bush grows up to 30-75 cm.Among the most popular varieties are:
- Variety "Dazzer" is a plant with dark red flowers. The tips of the petals are yellow.
- The Wirral Flame variety is distinguished by reed flowers, the petals of which are red in the middle and yellow at the edges.
- Variety "Mandarin" is a bush with red-yellow reed flowers growing on its shoots.
Gaillardia is beautiful
Many gardeners grow in their gardens annual spreading bushes of beautiful Gaillardia. At the top of her tall thin peduncles baskets are formed, the diameter of which reaches 6-7 cm. The flowers consist of reed petals, the bases of which are purple-red or purple-pink, and the edges are yellow. Gaillardia beautiful has several varieties:
- Painted Gaillardia is a plant with double or semi-double bicolor inflorescences.
- Gaillardia Lorenz is distinguished by spherical double inflorescences, which consist of funnel-shaped yellow or red-yellow flowers.
Among the varieties of Gaillardia, you can beautiful mark the variety "Yellow Plume" with yellow double flowers and "Red Plume" variety with funnel-shaped double terracotta flowers.
Gaillardia perennial: planting and care
An unpretentious shrub can grow on almost any type of garden soil. However, before planting Gaillardia, the soil must be prepared by enriching it with humus, mineral fertilizers and wood ash during digging. The plant does not like acidic and too wet soils, as well as feeding with fresh manure.
In open ground, planting of Gaillardia seedlings should be carried out in mid-August or early September. For this, sunny areas are selected and well-drained soil... The plant loves the sun, therefore it grows poorly and practically does not bloom in the shade.
The distance between the plant pits should be at least 20-25 cm. In this case, the bushes will grow well, and the flower garden will look beautiful next year. You can grow Gaillardia in one place for four years.
Care features
Caring for perennial Gaillardia is not particularly difficult. If the plant is planted in a well-lit place, then everything else does not matter much.
Care consists only in watering the bushes in dry weather and three times a day feeding per season... It is recommended to fertilize Gaillardia with a complex fertilizer during the budding period, during flowering and a month before the onset of the first cold weather. Fresh manure cannot be used categorically.
In order for the plant to bloom even longer, wilted and faded flowers must be removed in a timely manner. When planting, near tall varieties of Gaillardia, you can install supports to which the stems will be tied in the future. Otherwise, the bush will begin to fall apart and will look ugly.
In about four years, the Gaillardia will need to be transplanted while propagating the plant by dividing the rhizome.
Reproduction of Gaillardia
The plant reproduces in two ways:
- seeds;
- dividing the bush.
Vegetative breeding method
Lush, old bushes multiply by dividing the rhizomes. You can separate the bushes in the fall after cutting the peduncles, or in the spring before the start of active growth.
The plant is dug up and divided into parts with a sufficient number of roots and shoots. The parcels are planted in new holes prepared in advance. The planted plants are well watered.
Seed reproduction
Perennial Gaillardia in the open field reproduces by self-seeding... However, in this case, the color scheme of flowers on new bushes can differ significantly from the mother. To prevent this from happening, self-seeding must be controlled.For this, in the fall, the seeds are collected and dried.
In the spring, with the onset of warmth, a plot is allocated for planting seeds, which is dug up and spilled abundantly. Seeds are sown to a depth of no more than 0.5-1 cm, otherwise they may not germinate. To create a greenhouse effect, the sown bed is covered with film or agrofibre.
The first seedlings should appear 11-12 days after sowing... When 2-3 true leaves appear on young plants, they will need to be cut down. Gailardia is planted in a permanent place in the open field in the fall or next year in the spring. The plant will bloom in the second year after planting.
Reproduction of annual Gaillardia by seeds
The annual plant propagates by seed in indoor conditions. Sowing is carried out in late winter or early spring. The seeds are laid out on the surface of a wet earth mixture and sprinkled with vermiculite a little. Seedling boxes are covered with polyethylene or glass and placed in a bright place with a temperature of 20-23C. The soil is moistened as needed.
After about 10-14 days, the first shoots will appear. Polyethylene will need to be removed immediately, and the boxes with seedlings should be moved to a cooler place with air temperature within 18-20C... A pick is carried out when two true sheets appear. Seedling care consists in moistening the soil and increasing daylight hours:
- It is necessary to water the seedlings only after the topsoil dries out.
- Daylight hours for young plants should last at least 14 hours, otherwise, due to high humidity and lack of light, they can get sick with gray rot. Therefore, it is recommended to illuminate seedlings with fluorescent lamps.
Planting seedlings of annual Gaillardia in open ground is carried out from mid-August to September.
Perennial Gaillardia can be used to decorate flower beds, rabatki, alpine slides or in mikboxers. Low-growing varieties form wide borders. Paying very little attention to the plant, in return you will get a lush, long flowering and bright, sunny flower gardens.
