• Image of Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri 'Grape Sensation' taken at Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC by JLBG
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Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri 'Grape Sensation'

Grape Sensation Blanket Flower

This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

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Item #: 7637

Zones: 7a to 9b, possibly colder

Dormancy: Winter

Height: 24" tall

Culture: Sun

Origin: United States

Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)


Forget everything you know about gaillardia and check out this unusual 2004 introduction! Gaillardia 'Grape Sensation' is a selection of the amazing, but very rare (three counties only) Texas native, Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri made by Dawn Stover, formerly of the SFA Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches, Texas. Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri 'Grape Sensation' is a superb long-lived perennial, forming an airy 2' tall x 3' wide clump. Instead of typical gaillardia flowers, Gaillardia 'Grape Sensation' is topped with an abundance of 2" wide grape flowers from May through October....good drainage always helps.

Gaillardia aestivalis is one of the best sun perennials introduced in quite a few decades. It does bloom for 5 months of the year (May through October), even through exceptionally dry summers. It is a very long lived perennial, one might even say permanent, which is so different from the very well known Indian Blanket Flower, Gaillardia aristata and the hybrid G x grandiflora. It spreads underground at a modest rate, though one could hardly ever have too much of it. Division of establish plants is an easy way to propagate it. Even small and perhaps unpromising looking scraps re-establish and grow away. Despite its long bloom period it rarely looks shabby, the seed heads shattering eventually and disappear. Maintenance consists of cutting the spent flower stalks to the ground come winter.