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Hi birdies, and happy Tuesday.
My regular readers are really smart. And adorable (although that doesn’t apply here). Posts about how to collect flower seeds are probably BORING to them, because they already know how. I’ll go ahead and apologize up front to those readers – sorry!
This post is for novices or kids or for anyone who wants to know more about Gaillardia, or Blanketflower.
Isn’t it pretty? I’ve got some growing in a container by my back door, because they love the desert heat and the full sun exposure. I love how cheerful they look.
According to Wikipedia, the flower got its scientific name from an 18th century French magistrate named M. Gaillard de Charentonneau, who was a patron of botany. Its common name refers to the bright colors often found in southwestern Native American communities. Other common names include Indian flower, firewheel, sundance and brown-eyed Susan.
As for the specific Gaillardia this is, I’m going with pulchella. I spent some time looking around online to find out the exact type of flower, but it gave me a headache. There is a ton of contradictory information out there about plant varieties, and frankly, life’s too short.
It also doesn’t matter in terms of how to collect the seeds or enjoy the plant.
Collecting the seeds is easy, once you know where to look for them. As with most flowers, the seeds grow right smack in the middle of the petals:
In the above photo, the flower petals have dried up and fallen off, leaving the seeds exposed.
So the only thing left to do is to collect ’em:
Which I did by holding an envelope under the seeds.
And letting them fall off the plant into the envelope.
Hmmm. I guess I’m pretty bored by this post, too. Pretty elementary stuff. Well, maybe it’ll be helpful to SOMEONE out there. Hope so!
I’ll be back manana. Hope to see you then!
Good To Grow 