Gaillardia aristata, Blanket Flower seed
A hardy perennial with cheerful red and yellow blooms from summer into fall. Pollinator favorite, thrives in dry soils. Covers 5 sq ft.
From Northwest Meadowscape's website: Remarkably colorful and drought-adapted, blanketflower is a dryland native perennial, occurring across the inland west from eastern British Columbia south into the Great Basin and eastward across the Great Plains.
With variable colors, blanket flower can appear with with yellow, red, brown, or purple centers, and yellow, or red petals (with flowering occurring from late summer into fall). These flowers arise up to about two feet in height (sometimes much less), from mostly bare stems, with lance-shaped foliage remaining closer to the ground. As the flower heads ripen they release, interesting bristly seeds.
These are consistently excellent bee flowers, often attracting large wild leafcutter bees and dazzling metallic green Agapostemon sweat bees. That said, the most intriguing insect visitors (found in much of the open West) are brilliantly colorful Schinia moths which camouflage themselves with jaw-dropping effectiveness within the flowerheads. These moths (often red and yellow in appearance) are like flying flowers themselves, and are among the most spectacularly colorful moths in North America.
Plant blanketflower in dry, rocky or gravelly soils, with the seeds mostly raked or scattered into bare ground (they need light to germinate). In extremely dry years, it may be mostly dormant, with more prolific flowering happening in years after some decent winter precipitation. This is a plant for full or partial sunlight, for rock gardens, in open understories beneath pines, as a great yard or landscape plant for hot front yards -- however it probably also has untapped potential in a lot of other unexpected human spaces, including spaces in wet climates -- as a tenacious green roof option, as a rock garden specimen, in roadside plantings where urban heat islands cause other plants to wilt.
How to Use Your Cover Crop & Native Seed Packets
Each seed packet is measured to cover 25 sq ft or 100 sq ft, depending on the size you chose.
Sowing Instructions
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When to sow: Fall is ideal in Portland. The soil is still warm for germination, and fall rains keep seedlings watered. Some seeds (like meadowfoam or clovers) can also be spring-sown.
How to sow:
- Rake the soil lightly to create good seed-to-soil contact.
- Scatter the contents of the packet evenly over the area (don’t worry about perfect spacing).
- Gently press or rake seeds in so they make contact with the soil. Do not bury deeply — most native and cover crop seeds need light to germinate.
- Water: Fall rains usually do the job, but water lightly if the weather turns dry.
What to Expect
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Traditional Cover Crops (rye, peas, fava, daikon, crimson clover, buckwheat, mustard): Grow quickly, protect soil, and build fertility. In spring, chop them down or mow before they set seed. Some (like rye) can also be crimped into a mulch.
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Living Mulches (red fescue, dwarf yarrow, creeping thyme, low clovers): These stay low and provide long-term weed suppression and ground cover. Shear lightly as needed, but they don’t require replanting every year.
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Pollinator Wildflowers (Clarkia, poppy, gilia, flax, meadowfoam, coneflower, blanketflower): Not classic cover crops, but they add beauty and attract bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. Many reseed naturally.
Spring & Summer Management
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Chop-and-drop: Cut plants at the base and leave them as mulch (peas, fava, clovers).
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Mow: Use on ryegrass or cereals to turn them into quick mulch.
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Crimp: Flatten tall rye or grains at flowering to create a long-lasting weed barrier.
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Shear perennials: Yarrow, thyme, and sedges can be trimmed back after bloom.
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Self-seeders: Flowers like poppy, clarkia, and meadowfoam will often reseed themselves. Leave some seed heads if you want them back next year.
Quick Tips
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Cover crops = soil builders.
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Living mulches = weed suppressors.
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Wildflowers = pollinator magnets.
Tulle or row cover can protect young seedlings from birds and slugs until established.
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