Saturday, September 1, 2012

Problem with Blanket Flowers

There's a problem with my Blanket Flowers
that is quite perplexing.

Blanket Flower
(Gaillardia)
I started these plants from seed early this spring.  
They now live in a neglected spot by my air conditioner, 
taking all the abuse that this hot summer has been able to dish out..

..and even thriving.


What's the problem with them, you might ask?


My Blanket Flowers are quite lovely-

but they are supposed to look like this:

the packet that the seeds came in
These are supposed to be Gaillardia 'Burgundy' - completely red Blanket Flowers.  

But I can't tell them apart from the regular red and yellow Blanket flowers that are in my kids' wildflower gardens 
(and there's no way the seeds could have been mixed up).

Gaillardia bud
I don't really mind too much.  I think they're quite pretty, and the red and yellow go quite well with the other plants nearby.


But I do wonder what happened?

16 comments:

  1. Indie, I love this variety of Gailardia have the same in my garden! Red-yellow flowers are pretty.

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  2. Hmmm...I would say the seed com[any did not give you what was on the packet...can you contact them?

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  3. I've bought Livingston seed before (vegetable tho), and have been happy with the results, but my guess is they got the wrong seed in the packet or it was tainted by other Gaillardia plants. I've grown Burgundy from seed, but it was Burpee seed. I wanted the solid red in the garden... they've turned out to be one of my favorite plants actually.

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  4. Indy,

    I have seen a lot of blanket flower never full red. I bet they put make up on the flower in the photo to sell more seeds. A little truth stretched a bit, they are red and blanket flowers.

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  5. Beautiful photographs, beautiful flowers, I love such colours. I am greeting

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  6. Lovely flowers - I have to admit I like the red and yellow better :)

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  7. Indie mine started out Burgundy and then turned into the ones that you have grown. So they may not hold true. Disappointing when you have our heart set on the Burgundy colors. But they are blooming machines and pretty.

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  8. Either way, they're very pretty. And they're great cut flowers! I like the yellow/red ones better, too. They're unique.

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  9. They are still beautiful even though they were't what you thought you had. That would have really annoyed me too.

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  10. I think it a happy mistake. The splash of yellow makes it stand out in the garden.

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  11. That is disappointing when you expect one thing but get another. Something must have happened...very odd. They are pretty, but I know you must have expected the full color.

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  12. Wonderful photos! For some reason gaillardia failed in my garden. Yours are gorgeous. I would be happy with them, though if I expected burgundy, I would surely be disappointed.

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  13. I've had this problem occasionally with seeds, too. I know you're disappointed, but I think the red and yellow ones are lovely!

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  14. I see what you mean. They do look very much like the Gailardia which I had in the garden a number of years ago. A little disappointing, tempered by the fact that they look fabulous.

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  15. Indie, this has happened to me too, wrong colour on plants grown from seeds. At least you got the correct plant and not something completely different! They are beautiful, but I can understand you are disappointed. Send the company an email with photos attached, perhaps you get free seeds for next year :-)

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  16. I really do like the red and yellow - it actually works better than the red would in the place I put it. I do wonder how it ended up the wrong kind, though! Livingston is just a bulk supplier to retailers, I believe, but I'm going to see if I can contact them about the mixup.

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