I was visiting Oakland Community College one fine summer day and saw these unique Gaillardia X grandiflora growing out in the plant arangements in the front lawn area. I really liked them so I went all the way back to my car and got the camera. I took several pictures and decided to use this one.

This is a Beautiful colorful picture of a Gaillardia X grandiflora - Blanket-flower.

Description: Resembling a sunburst, blanket flower is valued for its hot-hued blooms that rise on sprawling stems over coarse-looking, textured foliage. The three- to four-inch, daisy-like, bicolor blooms radiate red from the yellow-red cone to a ring of yellow on the tips of the petals. Some selections offer double blooms and dwarf habits. Blooms last from summer until frost. A tough, durable, low-maintenance that's native to the western U.S. Two to three feet tall and two feet wide.

Characteristics: Gaillardia aristata is a species of blanket flower that is native from North Dakota to Colorado west to California and British Columbia. It typically grows in clumps to 30” tall and is found primarily in dry sites on meadows, prairies, grasslands, mountain foothills and at lower mountain elevations to 9000’. ‘Bijou’ is a dwarf seed strain that typically grows to only 10-12” tall. It features orange-red daisy-like flowers (to 3” diameter) with yellow tipped rays. Blooms late spring to fall. Lance-shaped gray-green leaves may be pinnately lobed near the base of the plant. Flowers are attractive to butterflies. In areas where goldfinches are present, gardeners should consider leaving some spent flowerheads for the birds. Gaillardia is sometimes commonly called blanket flower in probable reference to the resemblance of its rich and warm flower colors and patterns to blankets woven by Native Americans. However, some authorities suggest that the name blanket flower was originally derived from the habit of wild species plants to form colonies that blanket the ground. Specific epithet means bristly in reference to the hairs that cover the flowerhead receptacles, stems and leaves. The popular but short lived gaillardia hybrid sold in commerce as G. x grandiflora are crosses between perennial G. aristata and annual G. pulchella.