Gaillardia grandiflora.Blanket flower.Perennial with gray-green leaves...

Gaillardia grandiflora.

Blanket flower.

Perennial with gray-green leaves and bright flowers.

In the darkest weeks of December, when the days are short and the weather cool, when nothing else in the landscape is anywhere near bloom, gaillardia is in flower: cheerful daisylike blossoms in red, yellow or red with yellow borders, on 10-inch stems, perfect for a small bouquet to brighten an otherwise dreary day.

But gaillardia is not just a winter-blooming perennial. The plant is a constant in mild climates, never dying back, just spreading and flowering every month of the year, without fail. Its biggest splurge is in spring, when the coarse gray-green leaves are almost obscured by hundreds of 3- to 5-inch flowers.

In those areas with winter frost, gaillardia probably will die back and resurrect itself in the spring, but for the central basin and other frost-free (or nearly) areas, gaillardia is a daily companion--and an undemanding one. Like most perennials, it propagates by spreading its roots, or clumping; unlike most perennials, it also reseeds itself. Gaillardia will tolerate drought and neglect, but for a steady supply of cut flowers, the dead flower heads should be removed. Often.

Older gaillardias tend to look rangy and unsightly, often developing a thicket of dead stems that should be removed. And it does like to spread; at first I thought its common name, blanket flower, referred to its flower coverage, but now I suspect it designates the entire plant, one of which can easily cover an area 5-feet square. In a tight space, it overwhelms less tenacious neighbors.

There are dwarf varieties, such as Goblin, that do well in pots and in borders, blooming just as extravagantly but with slightly smaller flowers. One variety, Gaillardia pulchella Lollipop, has round flower heads with no daisy-type petals; Lollipop flowers look like colorful versions of Gaillardia grandiflora’s spent flower heads.