The blooms were so sharp and colorful that it went on my list of plants that I wanted to try in South Florida.
Last spring I started a couple of Gaillardia Aristata seeds to stick in the garden. After they germinated they were transferred to a planting brick where one of the plants got trampled by my dogs and the other grew slowly under the foliage of a bigger plant.
Back in January of this year I dug up the plant to use the planting block for something else. It was stuck in a beat up plastic pot with some homemade compost. I added some holes to the pot top and some wire and made it into a hanging basket.
This was moved out front into the sun and hung up so I could keep an eye on it from the porch.
I had read that the blanket flower likes the sun and that it doesn't like much water.
It didn't take long to figure out that in this hanging pot and South Florida sun the rules didn't apply here.
I found that this plant takes a large drink cup of water per day to keep it from wilting and happy. Exposed to the wind and sun the moisture is quickly evaporated from a hanging basket here.
I had also read that this perennial wild flower doesn't bloom the first year when planted from seed. Of course this didn't apply either because with the warmer weather and its one large cup of rainwater per day the Blanketflower has prospered.It is now as happy as a pig in ...Ah well anyway it is content and sending out stems with blooms in bursting color.
It may look kind of funky in the hanging basket but I like it . I mean after all this is South Florida where the normal is considered unusual.
The blooms of the blanket flower are so bright you have to love them,right.
The reward for a little patience is well worth it.
And how does this figure in with your 2010 Challenge you ask.....
Well i'm fittin' to tie it all together.
First I had to research the flower to determine what it was in the first place. Then read up on what exactly it likes to grow well. Then disregard everything that I had read because in South Florida the gardening rules don't work here.
Second I grew this plant from seed . One seed at a cost of maybe a dime . It was planted in a rejected old pot that had been saved from the garbage. It was made into a hanging pot with the simple addition of a few holes in the pot rim and a few feet of wire that I was able to bend and twist into the hanger supports.
And last it is growing in the compost that I made in my backyard and watered with saved rainwater.
Did I mention that the Blanket flower is a Perennial that will last for more than one year and re bloom again.
This plant has done well here and I give it the much coveted Sanddune Seal of Approval.
---SANDDUNE--
Glad that you wrote this post, since I my blanketflower seeds just germinated two weeks ago as well! I am so glad that "first year doesn't bloom rule does not apply to yours". I hope it won't apply to mine either.
ReplyDeleteThis flower looks really cheerful! Do you need to stake them since the spike seems quite tall? I am looking forward to some bright colors in my garden this summer.
Congratulations sanddune, what an achievement. The flowers are lovely. The plant looks very happy and healthy so you should have a show or quite a while.
ReplyDeleteInteresting way to display that blanket flower. I'm hoping my newly sprouted seeds produce such colorful blooms.
ReplyDeleteSanddune,
ReplyDeleteYou have discovered a treasure I am sure you will enjoy for many years. I remember when you first planted it and you were a bit leary wondering if it would produce. Patience is a gardeners best quality. Not one I possess in every circumstance ~~ but I'm learning better all the time.
What is interesting to me is that you chose to place the seeds in a hanging basket. (good job on salvaging the basket BTW)Blanket flower is not a flower readily used in hanging baskets but you have done it and it is working. Blanket flower will reseed itself.
It was a prize bloomer in my garden during this coldest winter I can remember. Mine were planted from seed as well and they just thrive without any help from me. I'm using them now in every sunny spot.
Who couldn't use a flower that needs so little care!
Meems
Your blanket flower seems to have a happy disposition, like its owner. At least you seem to be a cheerful person, judging from your blog. Gardening certainly teaches us patience. Your patience has paid off quite well!
ReplyDeleteAmi,
ReplyDeleteThis is the first one I have grown but the stems are long about a foot. They are pretty strong and are holding their own in the wind we get so I guess you would not have to stake them.
Gillian,
I'm not sure how long it will last but it a cool looking plant to me. It sure adds some bright color.
NanaK,
Yes the hanging basket is a strange way to grow a Blanket flower. But it worked and I got to watch it from my porch as it grew and bloomed. I hope that your sprouts do well.
Meems,
Actually I first had the plant in the ground then dug it up and put it in the basket. It seems to like it there. I know putting it in a hanging basket is not proper gardening method but sometimes I just have to live on the cutting edge. :-]
Deborah,
The spectacular flower blooms were worth the wait for me. Don't know just why but I liked the blanket flower from the first time I saw one and had no idea what it was.
Blanket flower is one of my favorites and it does well in a wet area in my garden. I, too, keep reading that it won't survive with much water...but it thrives. And, the blooms...they are great!
ReplyDeleteSanddune, Blanket Flower is one of my all time faves. This brilliant bloom enhances my front entry garden, greeting everyone who comes. It flourishes in every season, blooming nonstop. It reseeds itself readily. I've replanted the seedlings around my garden, especially to the hot sunny places other plants won't thrive in. I don't pamper this one at all, and it doesn't mind. Good luck with yours and enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteThis one demands water unlike what I have read. It is probably from being in a hanging pot that drys out quickly from the wind and sun here.When the blooms die down I already have a spot for it back in the ground in the garden.
Kimberly,
I really like the blanketflower also. I am glad to hear that it will survive the sunny places as it is going back in the garden soil soon in the sun.