I'm in zone 3 and also grew gallardia from seed two years ago and they have come back. Save the seeds and plant them in the spring. You could probably plant them now and I'm sure they will grow in the spring.

Mari11,
The gaillardia seeds are ripe for harvest when they fall off easily. They should be white outside with black inside. Not every seed will be viable. You have to inspect each seed for the hard black diamond shape inside that goes all the way to the tip of the seed. For quick inspection: place on a table & press on the tip area with your finger, if hard it's a keeper!
They are perennial plants. You will find that they will readily reseed itself and your clump will be over twice it's size next year. Don't worry about picking them before the frost. The frost won't do any harm. After harvesting, put on a tray and let them dry out for a few days before you seal them in a baggie or container. ~Josie

In early summer, I planted Gaillardia Aristata "Gallo", Gaillardia X Grandiflora "Goblin" and Gaillardia Fanfare, all of which have been blooming nicely. I haven't been deadheading the spent blooms because I want them to reseed and come back next year.

The other day I checked one of the seedheads but didn't see any seeds.

Have any of you grown these varieties and have they come back the next year?

I have gaillardia and Iknow they are perennials. Only I have a question. I want to transplant them. Do they survive transplantation?

Ianna

Ianna:

I have grown Goblin Gillardia for at least 10 years. I grew the first ones from seed and I have quite a few in my flower beds today. I know many of them are from dropped seed, because I stop deadheading in August and let them go to seed.

I don't know about moving them at this time of year, but they transplant very well in the spring. I wait until they are about 3 or 4 inches tall. Then I dig a hole and fill it with water and let it sink into the ground. I do this with anything I transplant. It lets the roots have the moisture they need to settle in. I dig up my plant and put it in the hole and cover it in. I check that it doesn't need water for a week or so. I have lost very few over the years doing it this way. They settle in nicely

Gaillardia have both annual and perennial forms, just to confuse gardeners, I think. Some of the "fancy" new hybrids may have genes of both types. That is why some of them are very short-lived, although they are sold as perennials. Some are not very winter-hardy as well, although do well apparently in the southern USA. I was told by experienced gardeners to cut much of the foliage back in late summer/early fall. Leave several inches of foliage at the base of the plant. Otherwise some gaillardias "flower themselves to death" and have no energy to survive the winter. Do not leave this job until late fall because the plant will not have time to re-establish itself before freeze-up. I would leave transplanting until the spring, as oilpainter has said.

ontnative:

I know that sunray and the double correopsis will bloom it's self to death, but I've never heard that about Gillardia. I do cut back my Correopsis at the end of August, because it does keep blooming.

My Goblin Gillardia needs no such cutting back. By the end of August it has stopped blooming and is setting seed. I suppose it depends if you keep deadheading or let it go to seed. However, I can see it blooming it's self to death setting flowers if one keeps deadheading, because it is a prolific bloomer

dianasan,

If I recall, the seeds are attached to white chaff. The chaff is on the outside and rubbing or pulling the flower head apart should reveal the seed.

--- The gaillardia seeds are ripe for harvest when they fall off easily. They should be white outside with black inside. Not every seed will be viable. You have to inspect each seed for the hard black diamond shape inside that goes all the way to the tip of the seed. ---

ljpother,

I took apart a couple of dry seedheads off of Fanfare and there is no black tip attached to the white chaff -- it's white til the end. Could it be that Fanfare is a sterile hybrid?

I didn't check the seedheads on Goblin, Gallo or Burgundy because they're not dry enough yet.

The reason I ask is that I tried planting Gaillardia twice before and it never overwintered for me, so if it's not hardy or a true perennial, I want to be sure to collect the seeds.

I really am loving the four cultivars I got this year and they're blooming beautifully and profusely.

Thank you all for your input.

Dianasan,

I'm in zone 5b and that gaillardia I have came back after I mistakenly removed it last year thinking it was an annual. perhaps you may need to mulch your plant. The one I have I grew from seed. i thought I removed it completely but it seems some of the roots survived and so revived.

Ianna

My goblin reseeds itself. I have also saved seeds from it and started them in the greenhouse the next spring

I believe that Goblin is one of the more persistant cultivars. Some of the others last only 1-3 years in the garden. Let them self-seed if possible.

ontnative,

That's true. My Goblin is more than 4 times the size of my Fanfare, but I paid only 99 cents for Goblin (at Canadian Tire) vs $9.99 for Fanfare. Both were purchased this summer.

I checked the dry seedheads and both Goblin and Burgundy have seeds, but Fanfare and Gallo definitely appear to be sterile.

As interesting as Fanfare's petals are, from a distance, Gobllin looks just as nice.

I'm disappointed about Gallo not seeding because it is a much more compact plant which is what I was looking for.

Burgundy's blossoms are very similar and it is blooming beautifully and profusely, but it's way too tall for the front of the beds where I planted it. I'll be transplanting it next spring.

Dianasan, there is a relatively new one called 'Arizona Sun' if you are looking for a dwarf gaillardia. It is 20-30 cm (about 1 ft.) It can be grown from seed or purchased as a plant. Maybe not as tough as Goblin but quite similar. Doesn't really like my dry clay soil. The classical red and gold colouring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun'

Thanks for the heads-up, ontnative. I'll be looking out for it.

Good advice on the Gailardia. keep in mind that many of the hewer varieties will come back from seed, but you may not get the same quality of plant. The smaller varieties tend to revert back to larger types. Special colors revert back to the regular red/Yellow types. this is true of most newer perennial hybrids. this is one reason you should never name your plants the same as the mother plant. A Glblin seedling is no longer "goblin". It's proper name is Gailardia X Goblin showing that it is from Goblin.

Looks like I won't have to worry about Gailardia X Fanfare next year because Fanfare looks pretty much dead right now.

I bought cones for winter protection the other day and hope that my Burgundy, Gallo and Goblin will fare better.