Gaillardia aristata
I love seeing a native bee doing its thing there in this photo. I have other clumps of Gaillardia going, all from seed from Thorn Creek Native Seeds--so, a local source--but this one is different. This came from seed from about a half mile east of me, at a bend in the North fork of Palouse River. This flower is so beautiful, I had collected seeds for it years ago, and I had 4-5 clumps of it going strong in various spots out there, when I got the Palouse Conservation District grant in 2013, and received the advice that I needed to scatter seed from a plant like this on bare ground, raked in to the top 1/4". This plant does not seem to sprout from seed planted in this way, however, and while I was learning this through experience, the voles (oh yes, the dreaded voles) discovered that Gaillardia root was tasty, and I started discovering holes where plants had recently been. It seemed that ALL of these really-local Gaillardia were gone by 2018, and while I had others... this seemed like a sad thing to lose. Then, last year... a few tell-tale leaves came up where one of these old ones had been, and it gave up a few flowers. This year, there are many blooms there, and I will be now be able to bring this local one back here. Whew, that was close!
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