Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) Geraniums and Pelargoniums

Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) Geraniums and Pelargoniums

GARDEN PATCH POINTERS
By Robert and Hoberley Schuler
U C Davis and O S U Master Gardeners; National and C G C I
Garden Study and Landscaping Design Master Consultants

Gaillardia, sometimes known as Blanket Flower, can be annuals, biennials, or perennials (check the seed packet).  They have hairy leaves, and showy daisy like blossoms, usually in various combinations of purple, dark red, and yellow.  This plant is a native to North America. 

Gaillardia x grandiflora is a perennial, a 2 to 3 feet high mound spreading to 2 feet.  Most gaillardias have long stems above the mounded plant base. There are now many cultivars with various heights that you can buy from seed companies.  The varieties have flowers up to 3-4 inches wide! 

Check the height of the full grown plant.  If it says 3 feet tall, that height includes the one foot long stem of the flower including the mound.  Dwarf varieties are now available 6 to 10 inches tall.  The new “Mesa Yellow” is 16 to 18 inches tall and 20 to 24 inches wide.  These colorful plants are easy to grow from seed and are good cutting flowers.  Unusual “burgundy” has petals of solid burgundy color.  Some of the new fluted flowers have shaggy petals.

Plant in full sun, they tolerate poor soil, and humid and hot dry weather.  In mild areas, they will bloom all year, but in most areas they bloom all summer through fall.  Deadheading improves the appearance and prolongs blooms.  Divisions can be made in the spring. 

Gaillardia pulchella is a half-hardy annual and can be grown from seed. 

Space plants in groups of 3 to 5 in various sunny locations. These plants will attract butterflies.

Q:   I bought some geranium plants because of their colorful leaves.  What is the difference between a geranium and a pelargonium?  Kathy Conway, Ontario.

A:  The common plant most people know as geranium is, botanically, Pelargonium.  True geraniums are mostly hardy plants that bloom over a long period of time, but are not as showy as most Pelargoniums.  Their blossoms can be singular, in clusters, or double with five overlapping petals that look alike.  After flowering, a beaklike fruit appears which is why the common name is Cranesbill.  Pelargoniums also have five petals, two points in one direction and the other three points in the opposite direction.

Geranium, Gentianaceae, is the common name for Pelargoniam which grows best in the climate areas like those of San Francisco, East Los Angeles, and Vista. True geraniums are annuals and perennials (some have woody stems).  Most do very well in full sun with afternoon shade in the summer and where there is only light frost, not freezing temperatures.  They can be grown from seed and tip cuttings.

Pelargonium, Geraniaceae, is a woody-based perennial (most of them from South Africa).  The “Martha Washington” type of geranium, Pelargonium X domesticum, is very common as well as is the Pelargonium X hortorum, referred to as fancy-leafed or color-leafed. 
Pelargonium, peltatum, is known as ivy geranium.  The scented leaf geraniums have their Latin name based on the aromatic fragrance.  These are sold by specialty herb nurseries.

Plant in a fast draining soil adding some peat moss if your soil is alkaline.  Water when the soil dries out to one inch below the ground surface.  Keep the scented geraniums in the foreground, in a raised bed, or in containers.  Fertilize 2 or 3 times during the active growing season.  Geraniums like full sun with some shade in the afternoon.  Dead flowers should be removed as soon as possible to keep the plants in bloom.  Keep the plant tips pinched instead of an occasional heavy pruning for control. Geraniums and pelargoniums bloom best if they are somewhat pot bound.

Geraniums are very attractive in containers, but these will require more water, more often.  Hanging Baskets with some scented varieties in the basket and ivy geraniums over the side can be beautiful in a semi shaded area. 

Pelargoniums and geraniums are easily propagated from tip cuttings and do not require a rooting hormone.  Place cuttings in sand or sterile potting soil.  The flowers are edible, providing you have not been sprayed with anything but water.

Do you have a garden question? E-mail giving your name, city where you live to:

rhschuler@verizon.net
Robert H. Schuler, M.G.
GGP# 87 for the week August 28, 2010 – Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) Geraniums and Pelargoniums