Gaylardia is such a complex, not very familiar to our ear, the name has beautiful perennial flowers, which we, as children, called "suns". Near our house, the "suns" grew glades. Gaillardia was very decorated with the front garden! Planting and care will not cause any difficulties for gardeners. Everything is very simple.
There are many types of gaillardia, it seems more than twenty. This is a very popular flower in our Kuban. It’s rare which front garden does without it. Why is it popular? Yes, because it blooms all summer without a break until late autumn. Very beautiful bouquets from gaylardii. Plus, they stand in a cut for a long time. In my opinion, this is a very unpretentious flower that does not require special care when growing.
There are tall (above 70-80 cm) and undersized varieties (30-35 cm) of gaylardia. I prefer low-growing varieties, since they look compact in the flower garden, do not fall apart and do not need to be tied up, unlike tall ones.
It is believed that gaillardia can grow in one place for about 4 years. Then it must be transplanted to another place or just sow new seeds. I have never made a landing or transplant for the purpose of updating, since it seemed to be self-renewing in me - it sprang up self-seeding. And the old plants themselves disappeared, and new ones sprouted and took their place in my flower garden. This will happen to you if you do not remove all wilted inflorescences. Self-seeding is sometimes so plentiful that you even have to thin out.
Especially beautiful are the gaillardia of different varieties in the flowerbed, photo:
If you grow hybrid varieties of gaillardia, then the color of flowers grown by self-sowing may differ from each other. Different colors will only decorate and emphasize the individuality of your flower garden.
By the way, gaillardia reproduces very well by dividing the bush. In this case, varietal or hybrid features are preserved. From one two- or three-year-old plant, several new bushes can be obtained by dividing. When planting or replanting, I do not advise dividing the bush into more than three parts, as small delenki will grow too long.
But if among your friends there are no owners of this flower, you can sow seeds. Just keep in mind that if you sow seeds immediately into the ground, then they will bloom only in the second year. And when planting seedlings in the soil, the gaillardia will bloom this year.
It is not for nothing that this flower is popularly called the “sun” - most elegantly it will grow in a well-lit place. He loves light soil. On heavy chernozems, when planting or sowing, add ash and coarse sand to the soil, you can compost. This plant should be watered sparingly, since gaillardia does not like waterlogging. Regularly water it should only be in arid sultry weather.
For longer and abundant flowering, faded peduncles should be regularly removed. Leave only a few for self-seeding. Perhaps the removal of peduncles and watering in the heat are the most “difficult” items for caring for the “suns”.
Like any plant, gailardia responds well to dressing. Experts advise feeding flowers three times a season. The first top dressing when buds begin to be tied. The second is during flowering. The latter - in the fall, when everything has already faded, a month before the onset of cold weather. Any complex mineral fertilizer will do. For example, Kemira is universal.
Honestly, I do not have time to pay so much attention to Gaillardia. Around the end of October, I cut off faded peduncles and poured “liquid fertilizer” under the bushes, which I myself prepared from mowed grass.
Gaillardia tolerates our winter, Kuban. Never covered her with anything.
Photo of gaillardia planted with seedlings, but all the following years sprout self-seeding: