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3.5
3.5" Perennial
3 or more $6.00 ea
Regularly: $6.99 ea

Blanket Flower 'Arizona'

Scott's Nursery Ltd.

$3.50
Title

Fire up your garden canvas with a spectacular explosion of blistering, high-voltage colour. This multi-award-winning perennial collection forms an incredibly tight, low-growing mound of crisp green foliage that becomes completely blanketed under a dense canopy of oversized, flame-like daisy blossoms. Radiating with intense tropical energy, the light-reflecting petals seem to glow in the summer sun. It delivers a powerful, eye-catching visual statement that instantly injects non-stop vibrancy into sun-baked borders, modern rockeries, and premium patio pottery.

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Plant Details

Mature Size:

12" H x 12" W

Zone:

3-10

Watering:

Low

Type:

Herbaceous Perennial

Growth Rate:

Fast

Light:

Full Sun

Plant Profile

Common Names:

Arizona Blanket Flower, Dwarf Common Blanket Flower, Arizona Sun Blanket Flower

Scientific Name:

Gaillardia aristata 'Arizona' Series

Type:

Filler / Compact Heavy-Blooming Perennial

Growth Details:

Mature Size: 10 to 12 inches tall and 10 to 12 inches wide (An exceptionally tight, uniform footprint).

Growth Habit: Compact, heavily branched, uniform mounding habit.

Form: Tidy, dense, rounded cushion.

Growth Rate: Fast.

Flowering: Profuse, plant-covering sheets of large, single daisy-shaped flowers.

Flowering Time: Late spring through late autumn (Continuous from June until the first heavy frost).

Flower Colour: Bold, high-contrast combinations depending on selection: fiery red rings tipped with bright yellow ('Arizona Sun'), rich soft apricot with yellow tips ('Arizona Apricot'), or solid crimson-brick red ('Arizona Red Shades').

Environmental Needs:

Exposure: Full sun. Absolutely thrives in intense summer heat and open, unprotected spaces.

Soil Preferences: Poor, gritty, sandy, or rocky soils with rapid, sharp drainage.

Soil Tolerance: Exceptional resilience in nutrient-depleted gravel, shallow dirt, and salt-heavy roadside soils; completely intolerant of heavy, soggy winter clay.

Watering: Low. Allow the soil profile to dry out completely between watering intervals; overwatered roots will fail.

Container Role: Performs beautifully as a heavy-blooming Filler or compact centerpiece Thriller in shallow patio bowls and rustic window boxes.

Special Features:

Disease Resistances: Highly robust; excellent natural resistance to common garden pests and powdery mildew. Fungal leaf spots occur only if planted in soggy, overcrowded zones.

Native Species: Yes (The parent species is a premium selection of a cold-hardy wildflower native to western North America).

Fast Growing: Yes (Achieves full size and maximum flowering weight in its very first season).

Attracts: Intensely alluring to butterflies, native honeybees, wild bumblebees, and beneficial insect pollinators.

Uses: Pathway framing, container centerpieces, sunny cutting gardens, xeriscaping, and seaside/coastal landscaping.

Resistance: Highly deer-resistant and rabbit-resistant due to the rough, coarse texture and natural bitter compounds of the leaves. Exceptional drought, heat, wind, and salt tolerance.

Care Guide

Ornamental & Landscape Value

Seasonal Interest:

Bloom Information: Highly showy flowers open wide on sunny days, completely blanketing the green foliage framework for months on end.

Fall Colour: Foliage retains its basic green tone into autumn before dying back to the ground for winter dormancy; the dried central flower buttons remain as attractive, structural spheres.

Garden Value:

Ornamental Interest: Massive, multi-toned daisy-like blossoms up to 3 inches wide featuring prominent, structural central buttons, set over compact mounds of grayish-green leaves.

Landscaping Uses: Ideal for front-of-border framing, mass public colour drifts, pathway edging, alpine rock gardens, xeriscaping, and stabilizing sunny slopes.

Garden / Landscape Benefits: Specially engineered to flower much earlier and heavier in its first season than traditional wild blanket flowers. Its dwarf habit completely eliminates the flopping, splitting, or staking associated with older varieties.

Wildlife & Human Value:

Wildlife Value: A premier ecological asset for dry, sunny zones; provides an essential, reliable, season-long nectar and pollen platform for vital local bees and migrating butterflies.

Human Value: The sturdy, rigid stems make excellent, long-lasting cut flowers for fresh, cheerful indoor bouquets. Delivers premium, low-maintenance curb appeal with zero irrigation demands.

Planting & Care Guide

Planting Considerations:

Best Time To Plant: Early spring after heavy winter frosts finish, or early autumn.

Spacing: Space individual plants 12 inches apart to allow the compact domes to meet uniformly into a dense, interlocking ribbon of color.

Location Tips: Select highly exposed, open garden areas that bake in intense summer heat; perfect for hot property lines, gravel strips, or seaside beds.

Companion Plants: Pairs magnificently with deep blue Salvias, low creeping Sedums, blue-toned Ornamental Grasses (Festuca glauca), white Candytuft, and yellow Coreopsis.

Care:

Light Requirements: Demands absolute full sun to achieve maximum bloom saturation and preserve its tight, heavy-branching dwarf structure.

Moisture Requirements: Exceptionally low; requires moderate water only until established, after which it becomes highly drought-tolerant and self-sufficient.

Maintenance, Fertilization: This innovative series is remarkably self-cleaning, but snipping off faded flower heads down to the foliage line will keep the mound looking immaculate and trigger non-stop waves of fresh buds. Strictly avoid heavy compost or synthetic fertilizers, as lean, nutrient-poor soil preserves its sturdy, non-flopping habit.

Tolerances:

Punishing summer heat, extended drought, poor or rocky soils, intense winds, coastal salt air, and browsing wildlife.

Tips For Success:

Thinning / Pinching: Not required due to its naturally dense, heavily branched dwarf genetics. Short-lived by nature, clumps can be divided every 2 years in spring to refresh vigor.

Support / Staking: Completely unnecessary; the stiff, compact branching network holds the large flowers upright even through heavy summer rainstorms.

Special Needs: Absolute soil drainage is mandatory. Wet winter soil is fatal to this species.

Mulching: Mulch strictly with pea gravel, coarse sand, or chicken grit to prevent moisture retention against the crown. Completely avoid heavy organic bark mulches.

Winter Protection: None required; completely frost-hardy. Simply clear away dead foliage and old stems in early spring before fresh green shoots emerge.

Fruit Profile