Question about Gaillardia's

[Leeder]

I managed to grow lots of Gaillardia (blanket flowers) from seed last year and loved how they brightened up my garden.

As most of my perennials are herbacious, I normally just leave everything to it over winter.

I have noticed today that the Gaillardia are begin to flower again, however they look very untidy and overgrown, rather than being stood up, they are lying down and spreading all over the garden iyswim.

They also look very woody, so I am wondering if I should have cut them back and if so, how much etc?

If this is the case, is there anyway that I can rescue them now? Or should I wait until summer is over and then carry out what is necessary?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

[srodders]

I always have several Gaillardia in the garden. You should have cut them back a bit by now (they say to about 15cm in early autumn) but a tidy up won't do them much harm - just don't be too drastic. Down here they flower pretty much 12 months of the year so I just do a tidy up as and when needed

Some do tend to be more trailing in their habit though. Also I have found that no 2 plants are the same from the same packet of seeds.