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Blanket Flower / Gaillardia

A picture of two blanket flowers. The center of the flower has a red edge with a yellow center. The petals themselves are reddish with yellow tips. Twigs and other vegetation can be seen alongside and behind the plants.

Last December, I visited a trail that had tons of pretty wildflowers. When I returned a few weeks later in January, many of those flowers had disappeared, but what was blooming was the beautiful red and yellow blanket flower (or Gaillardia).

The ability to keep blooming is somewhat of a trademark for blanket flowers. They're known for their ability to withstand tough conditions. Sandy soil? Hot sun? Salt? The blanket flower can withstand all of those things.[1] In a twist of expectations, it actually likes sandy soil and won't bloom as much when the soil is rich.[2] It will also reseed itself, so it's not only hardy, it's prolific.[1]

Blanket flower also can be considered a true "bird bestie" since Goldfinches eat its seeds.[3]  Goldfinches visit almost every state at some point—check out this helpful range map on eBird.[4] If you live where Goldfinches live and grow blanket flower, the Missouri Botanical Garden says there's an easy way to help them. Instead of deadheading all of the spent flowers (to hopefully prompt new ones to grow) leave a few for the birds to eat.[5]

Blanket flower is also the state wildflower of Oklahoma. It became so in 1986 after a team effort that started with a teacher: Dr. Doyle McCoy.[6] One day, he knocked on the door of Senator Billie Jean Floyd to talk about wildflowers. She knew him, since he'd been her teacher in both high school and college.[7] 

In a recorded interview, Floyd recounts that he noted that the state flower (mistletoe) was a parasite and that "Oklahoma needs a state wildflower." [7] She agreed. Together, they decided on blanket flower.

Then another person joined the team: Enoch Kelly Haney, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and later the principle chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.[7] Together, they were set up for success. Floyd says: "Dr. McCoy lobbied every one of the House, all 101 House members, and all 48 senators. He lobbied all of them. And when I introduced the bill and when Kelly introduced the bill, it passed with flying colors." 

A quilt was made for the new state wildflower by another teacher, Nettie White.[8] She says that one day, Enoch Kelly Haney came by her school during her planning period, and she told him that she taught classes on quilting. He asked if she'd be interested in making a quilt for the wildflower, and she said yes. The quilt took her about 3 months to complete, and she estimates that it has over 3,000 pieces. It was placed in the state capitol. To see the quilt and hear her tell the story, check out this interview.

So, there you have it! A beautiful flower and story of teamwork. I think it's neat that so many people came together to commemorate this little wildflower, and I certainly appreciated seeing them alongside the trail.

The Details:

Common Name: Blanket flower / Indian blanket
Scientific Name: Gaillardia spp. (Note: I assumed that what I saw was Gaillardia pulchella, and that's what many of the sources below are based on. However, there may be as many as 30 varieties of Gaillardia [9] and many look similar to the pulchella variety, particularly Gaillardia x Grandiflora.)
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Seen: On the side of a trail
Month: January

Learn More:

  1. UF/IFAS Center for Land Use Efficiency. (n.d.). Gaillardia. Gardening Solutions.
  2. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. (2022, December 27). Gaillardia pulchella. 
  3. Staake, J. (2024, April 17). Native blanket flower blankets gardens in bold color. Birds & Blooms. 
  4. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.). American Goldfinch: Spinus tristis [Range map]. eBird.
  5. Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.). Gaillardia pulchella.
  6. Oklahoma Historical Society. (n.d.). Indian blanket. In The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
  7. Floyd, B. J. (2007, October 3). Excerpt 2 [Audio excerpt, Interview by T. Finchum]. Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project, OK State Library Digital Collections. 
  8. Epworth Villa. (2023, August 21). Nettie White interview about state capitol quilt [Video]. YouTube.
  9. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. (n.d.). Select one of the many species of Gaillardia for an easy-to-grow perennial.
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