I didn't learn my lesson! Two years ago, a friend and I both bought gaillardia 'Golden Goblin' that turned out to NOT be that yellow blanket flower. I shopped the same nursery several times this year and came home with more 'Golden Goblin' in small cell packs without blooms.
Those plants started blooming this week and they are NOT yellow! I have to move them out of the bed they are in and move them to the hot colors of the butterfly garden. Again. I still haven't moved all of the other blanket flowers from the first mislabeling mistake.
This is a rant of mine. I've been bitten by the mislabeling of plants too many times. It's difficult to dig up plants and take them back to a nursery for replacement. Should I? Would you? I've contacted mail order nurseries in the past and gotten replacements. They were very nice about it and didn't want me to return the plants.
These mislabeled gaillardia were purchased as small cell packs of four plants for less than one large plant. While I'm upset about my waste of time and garden space, that's not a significant amount of money to go get replacements - it would be a two hour roundtrip and I know that I'd just spend more money on other plants.
Does 'Golden Goblin' really exist? Yes. I bought a few of those plants in bloom (for $4.99 in large pots) at another nursery this year. The blooms are lovely, especially with the deep blue salvia 'Mystic Spires'. It was worth the higher cost to get the correct plants!
Gaillardia 'Golden Goblin' and all other varieties of blanket flower have been deer and rabbit resistant for me, planted at the top of the garden edge along the meadow within easy reach of all critters. This perennial is a lovely soft golden yellow color through-and-through. GG is rated for zones 3-9 and is a bit more than 12 inches high in my garden.
Back to the garden... I have gaillardia to move!
Photos and words by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; July 2009
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