Blanket flower 'Goblin'
Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Kobold' · Asteraceae
A dwarf blanket flower with deep red daisies edged in yellow, in flower all summer. Sold as 'Goblin', the English for its German name.
- Size
- 14 in tall, 14 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid June to early October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around blanket flower 'Goblin'
The planner designed this bed around blanket flower 'Goblin' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why blanket flower 'Goblin' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Blanket flower 'Goblin' × 3, red
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 10, pink
- 3 Rock cress × 19, white
- 4 Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' × 3, tan
- 5 Stiff goldenrod × 5, yellow
- 6 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 8 Grape hyacinth × 5, blue
Why this plant
- The only daisies. The others are dense clusters, plumes, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red.
- The only medium leaves here. The rest are fine and bold. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- At the back. At 14 in it is seen over rock cress (8 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' (3½ ft) and stiff goldenrod (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 17 weeks. From mid June to early October.
- Closes the season. In its last week nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The longest in flower is blanket flower 'Goblin': 17 weeks, from mid June to early October. Rock cress repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where blanket flower 'Goblin' goes in a border
At 14 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The old standard among the dwarfs, tougher in cold than many newer ones. Cut it back hard in late August: the new growth that follows helps it through winter.
- Edging a hot, dry bed
- Seaside gardens
- Cutting
What to plant with blanket flower 'Goblin'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English lavender 'Munstead': in flower together for six weeks, from late June; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
- Blue oat grass: in flower together for four weeks, from mid June; tall enough (2½ ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Yarrow 'Moonshine': in flower together for nine weeks, from mid June; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about blanket flower 'Goblin'
Does blanket flower 'Goblin' need sun or shade?
Blanket flower 'Goblin' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does blanket flower 'Goblin' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 9. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does blanket flower 'Goblin' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid June to early October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Late June to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late June to early October |
| Zone 5 | Mid June to early October |
| Zone 6 | Mid June to early October |
| Zone 7 | Early June to early October |
| Zone 8 | Early June to early October |
| Zone 9 | Late May to early October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should blanket flower 'Goblin' be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 14 in (35 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 14 in (35 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many blanket flower 'Goblin' plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is blanket flower 'Goblin' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat blanket flower 'Goblin'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after blanket flower 'Goblin'?
Blanket flower 'Goblin' is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa': from early October to early November, 10 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall.
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
What does blanket flower 'Goblin' look like in winter?
Blanket flower 'Goblin' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is blanket flower 'Goblin' good for bees and butterflies?
Blanket flower 'Goblin' is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Gaillardia
- Blanket flower Gaillardia x grandiflora
- Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Arizona Sun'
- Blanket flower 'Burgundy' Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Burgunder'
- Blanket flower 'Mesa Yellow' Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Mesa Yellow'
- Common blanket flower Gaillardia aristata
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 14 in (35 cm) tall, 14 in (35 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to early October; daisies; red, yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; grey-green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Western USA
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, humidity, salt
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.