Polk County Master Gardeners
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Coreopsis
The common name, Tickseed, is enough to put you off coreopsis, but if you can
get past that, it is definitely the gardener's friend. It is one of the plants
suggested to me after I discovered that my thumb was definitely not green and
asked a nursery for something I could not kill. It makes great mass displays of
golden yellow flowers with deep red centers and lots of green foliage around
them.
The plants are around 12 inches tall and are best displayed where you can
have lots of them so that the color shows up well. Another possibility for using
coreopsis would be in wildflower gardens as it is pretty much self-maintaining
once you get it started. Coreopsis tolerates poor soil and less than optimal
drainage. You don't want to over-fertilize it. It starts blooming in June and
will continue all season if you deadhead--pinch off the spent blooms. You can
start from seed or purchase plants. If you choose to start the seed indoors, try
not to disturb the roots when you transplant them.
Coreopsis also self-seeds, so next season you can move the volunteers to
another location and multiply your display the following summer. The year after
that, you may be looking for someone to take the extras! It also makes good cut
flowers that will keep up to about a week. So forget about "tickseed" and enjoy
the brilliant display coreopsis can make it your garden.
By Barbara M. Tobias
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