Gaillardia

A sun-loving, drought-tolerant short-lived perennial in the daisy family, prized for its long succession of red-and-yellow banded daisy flowers from early summer to frost. Native to western and central North America, it thrives on lean, sharply drained soils and is one of the most reliable pollinator plants for hot, dry full-sun beds - provided it never sits in wet feet.

A fast, sun-loving member of the aster family grown as a warm-season annual, Gaillardia pulchella throws a long succession of 2-inch daisy-like flowers from early summer until frost. The ray florets blaze in bands of red and gold around a darker domed center - the firecracker coloring that gives it its name - on a wiry, branching 12-24 inch clump. It is built for hot, dry, sunny ground where richer-fed bedding plants sulk, blooming hardest exactly when summer heat peaks.