('Red
Plume')
Common name: Blanket Flower, Indian Blanket
Family: Compositae/Asteraceae, Daisy
Height x width: 8-30" x12-24" varying with cultivar
Growth rate: moderate
Foliage: alternate or basal, gray-green, sometimes pinnately lobed; upper leaves sessile, hirsute or pubescent, alternate, generally entire, otherwise variable with species; grandiflora 8-10" long, pulchella 5-6 long
Flowers: long peduncles (stems) above foliage, yellow or red or mixed colors such as red with yellow tips; size varies with species; grandiflora 3-4" across, pulchella 2" across; flat to nearly ball-shaped
Hardiness: generally grown as an annual
Soil: well-drained, moist, performs well on poor soils; pulchella tolerates dry
Light: full sun best, tolerates light shade
Pests and Problems: few, occasionally powdery mildew; sometimes on grandiflora leaf spot, aster yellows, leafhoppers and four-lined plant bug
Landscape habit, uses: rounded, borders, massed, cut flowers, dry or windy sites
Other interest: blooms continuously throughout summer and fall without deadheading; scientific name for M. Gaillard de Charentoneau, a French patron of botany; common name from resemblence of bold colors to those found in Native American blankets; species native south to southwestern U.S. and Mexico
Other culture: may get tall and lanky in shade or with excessive fertility
Propagation: puchased seeds sown outdoors in fall in south, indoors 6 weeks before last frost in north, blooms quickly from seeds; only Portola Giants, Gaiety, and Monarch strains from self-collected seeds
Species: of the 14 species, two are most common: x grandiflora (gran-di-floor’ah) and pulchella (pool-chel’ah) with differences as noted above; x grandiflora being a cross between aristata and pulchella; aristata is perennial zones 3-8 in western U.S., less common
Cultivars: those marked * most commonly seen
| Cultivar | species | flowers | height, in. | |
| ‘Baby Cole’ | x grandiflora | maroon, yellow tips | 8-12 | |
| ‘Burgundy’ | x grandiflora | wine red | 18-24 | |
| ‘Dazzler’ | x grandiflora | bright orange-red, yellow tips | 24-30 | |
| ‘Double Mixed’ | pulchella | red, yellow doubles, mixed | 12-18 | |
| ‘Gaiety’ | x grandiflora | red, pink, yellow | 18-24 | |
| *’Goblin’: ‘Kobold’ | ||||
| ‘Golden Goblin’:’Golkobold’ | ||||
| ‘Goldkobold’ (‘Golden Goblin’) | x grandiflora | golden, darker disks | 12-15 | |
| ‘Indian Yellow’ | aristata | yellow | 24-30 | |
| ‘Kobold’ (‘Goblin’) | x grandiflora | red, yellow tips | 12-15 | |
| ‘Lollipops’ | pulchella | yellow, orange-red, red | 15-18 | |
| ‘Monarch Strain’ | x grandiflora | variously red and yellow | 24-30 | |
| ‘Portola Giants’ | x grandiflora | bronze-red, yellow tips, 5-6" | 24-30 | |
| *‘Red Plume’ | pulchella | double red, AAS winner | 12-18 | |
| ‘Tokajer’ | x grandiflora | gold, red center zone | 28-32 | |
| ‘Torchlight’ (‘Fackelschein’) | x grandiflora | red, yellow tips, 5-6" across | 24-30 | |
| ‘Wirral Flame’ | x grandiflora | orange-red, yellow tips | 24-30 | |
| *‘Yellow Plume’ | pulchella | yellow, double | 12-18 |
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