Wildflower · Deer-resistant
Indian Blanket
Gaillardia pulchella
Also called: Firewheel, Blanketflower
The red-and-gold pinwheel daisy that blankets Texas roadsides all summer. A carefree reseeding annual that blooms in the worst heat and poorest soil.
Growing & care
Sow in fall or spring on bare soil; it reseeds itself thereafter. Deadhead for more bloom or leave seed for goldfinches. Thrives where nothing else will.
Bloom season
In bloom: Apr–Sep · Colors: red, yellow
Where to buy
Look for indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) at: Eden Brothers seed, native Texas nurseries, Wildseed Farms.
Sources
Range, nomenclature, and the USDA symbol above come from the federal plant record for this species. Check it yourself:
Good for
Plant it with
Natives that pair with indian blanket
Same conditions, same uses — species that share indian blanket's growing requirements and belong in the same bed.
Gayfeather
Liatris mucronata
Spires of feathery purple that open top-down in fall, when Monarchs are moving through and desperate for nectar.
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
A whimsical prairie flower whose drooping petals form a sombrero beneath a tall central cone.
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
The classic golden prairie daisy — cheerful, tough, and endlessly reseeding.
Fall Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
A mounding aster that vanishes into the background all summer, then bursts into a haze of blue-purple daisies in October — a lifeline of late nectar for pollinators..
Blackfoot Daisy
Melampodium leucanthum
A tidy mound smothered in honey-scented white daisies for most of the year.
Engelmann Daisy
Engelmannia peristenia
A deep-taprooted prairie daisy that blooms yellow for months and shrugs off drought better than almost anything — its flowers even fold in the midday heat to conserve water..