Blanket Flower Mesa Yellow

It's time to change the way we think about Blanket Flower. No longer a seed that must be planted in the fall so that it can vernalize over winter and bloom next summer, with 'Mesa Yellow' on the scene, it's a spring-planted delight that flowers in just 120 days from sowing, remains neat and compact, and blooms like crazy for months. Perfect for smaller-space gardens and containers, 'Mesa Yellow' offers big, brilliant daisies that just won't quit!

Measuring 3 inches wide, the blooms just radiate hot sunny color, from the knobby golden center (which becomes an elegant seedhead for cutflower or garden beauty) to the profuse, slender yellow petals. They appear far more generously than those of other Blanket Flowers, and this plant's free-flowering nature was a deciding factor in its being awarded Europe's top honor (the Fleuroselect Gold Medal) as well as America's coveted AAS award. It doesn't stop all summer, and will last easily into fall in warm climates. Butterflies adore these flowers, and songbirds feast on the cones in autumn. They are quite long-lasting, arising on strong but wiry green stems. Add them to your cutting garden as well as to the sunny perennial border and patio containers!

Almost as exciting as the blooms is the plant habit, which is very restrained by Gaillardia standards, and guaranteed not to flop or loosen up, even in hot climates. Just 18 to 20 inches high and 20 to 22 inches wide, this is a compact, well-branched, very uniform plant, with the flowers all reaching about the same height. In fact, this is where the name 'Mesa' comes in - the abundant blooms have a level, flat-topped look, similar to the mesas of the American southwest.

Every aspect of 'Mesa Yellow' is an improvement over older varieties, from starting the seeds (better germination rates than ever, thanks to its hybrid vigor!) to growing on (no pinching needed!) to garden hardiness (tough enough for zone 5 in the north, 10 in the south and west!). Indifferent to heat, humidity, drought, cold, damp, and just about any other foible of nature, this American native will not only grow in your sunny garden... it will flourish.

'Mesa Yellow' is one of only 3 flowering seeds to win an AAS award for 2010. If you like the dependability and ease of care typical of AAS winners, consider the other two as well: Zinnia Zahara Starlight Rose and Snapdragon Twinny Peach. You just can't go wrong with AAS flowers and veggies!

Ready in just 16 to 18 weeks -- several weeks earlier than other Gaillardia -- this seed is best begun indoors a few weeks before last anticipated frost. Transplant it when the soil has warmed in spring, and watch it take off! Zones 5-10. Pkt is 25 seeds.