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The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (see Reference 2) advises fertilizing wildflowers such as blanket flowers lightly when planting, unless you are planting on particularly poor soil. In "Texas Gardening the Natural Way" (see Reference 3), Howard Garrett recommends adding organic fertilizer to flower beds when they are being prepared for planting, which will provide light fertilization.
Mixing fertilizer into the planting bed with other amendments, including compost, dry molasses, volcanic sand blend and horticultural cornmeal, will help your blanket flowers get established when first planted. Organic fertilizer also creates a healthy environment for the microorganisms and beneficial insects that help flowers stay healthy. -
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation notes that fertilizing blanket flowers during the growing season can make the plants leggy at the expense of blooms. However, blanket flowers are often planted among other flowers or as part of a border arrangement featuring shrubs, which require fertilization.
To combat this problem, fertilize blanket flowers using organic rather than chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers make nutrients available to plants immediately upon application, producing rapid, leggy growth. Because organic fertilizers are derived from natural sources such as plants, minerals, blood and bone, they tend to release their nutrients more slowly than chemical fertilizers and are less likely to produce a flush of rapid stem and leaf growth.
As a compromise in these multi-planting situations, Garrett recommends using organic fertilizer three times per year: at planting, in June and in September. Between scheduled feedings, he also recommends using an organic foliar fertilizer at least monthly, drenching plants to enhance their growth.
Mulch the soil surrounding blanket flowers with well-rotted compost to provide a source of fertilizer to leach into the soil with every watering. Compost will also help conserve water and keep weeds down.
