This summer has been a hot one in Medfield, and some flower gardens are suffering from all the heat. One flower that loves the hot sun is the blanket flower perennial.
Better Homes and Gardens says blanket flowers are wonderfully cheerful, long-blooming plants for hot, sunny gardens. They produce single or double daisy flowers through most of the summer and well into fall. The light brick red ray flowers are tipped with yellow — the colors of Mexican blankets.
Blanket flowers tolerate light frost and are seldom eaten by deer. Deadhead the flowers to keep them blooming consistently through the summer and into fall. Some species tend to be short-lived, especially if the soil is not well drained.
The blanket flower likes sun, is good in zones 3-11, is deer resistant, and is a nice cut flower.
It grows to be 1-3 feet tall, 6 inches to 2 feet wide, and is good in beds or as a border or groundcover.
These flowers are easy to grow and include a variety of different colors like “Fanfare” (red and yellow), “Firewheel” (white), “Grape Sensation” (purple).
Good companion plants include Lamb’s-ears, Veronica, Salvia, Hyssop, and Coreopsis.
For the full Better Homes and Gardens article on blanket flowers, click here.
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