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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Perfumeballs

Gaillardia suavis
native · Hill Country

Perfumeballs is a perennial wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–3 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms red and brown in Mar–May. Good for bees and nectar insects.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources
Type
Perennial wildflower
Sun
Full sun to part shade (3–6 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Medium
Height
1–3 ft
Spread
3 ft
Bloom
Mar–May · red, brown
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, caliche, clay, dry, loam, sand
Wildlife
Supports bees and nectar insects

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

692 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.