stalk to new lateral flower buds, if
present, or to the basal foliage if no
side flowering is evident. Deadheading
keeps plants flowering and looking
decent, prevents seeding, and reduces
potential disease sites. Plants may
need to be cut back in midsummer
if they sprawl. Coreopsis grandiflora
and its cultivars can flower themselves
to exhaustion and thus will have
trouble forming buds for the following
year’s growth. Cutting all the flowering
stems down to the basal foliage at the
end of August or in early September
will stimulate new vegetative growth
and may increase the plant’s overwin-
tering survival rate. Do not prune for
the winter. Cut back as needed in the
early spring before new growth begins.
other maintenance Requires
well-draining soil for overwintering
survival. Drought tolerant. Not
long-lived; tends to be good for 2 or 3
seasons, and then needs division in
the spring. Plants may flop; select
lower growing cultivars.
related plantS Coreopsis
grandiflora ‘Early Sunrise’ is the
longest flowering cultivar and is more
compact (to 18 in.). Prune as described
above for the species. ‘Goldfink’ is
more compact (9 in. high) and may
need annual division to perform its
best.
Coreopsis lanceolata, lanceleaf
coreopsis, is similar to C. grandiflora
and actually may be synonymous in
the trade. Prune as above.Coreopsis tripteris
tall tickseed
compoSitaeYellow daisies with brown centers; pinnate
leaves in pairs along tall, stiff stems
Blooms July–September
4–8 ft. high; 2–5 ft. wide
Full sun
Zones 3–8
pruning Deadhead to discourage
reseeding, which can be excessive in
favorable sites, or plant this North
American native in spacious naturalis-
tic gardens where it has room to roam.
In areas where self-sowing isn’t a
problem, leave plants standing over
the winter, and finches will feed on the
seeds. Otherwise, cut tall tickseed
down during the late fall cleanup.
other maintenance An adapt-
able plant, Coreopsis tripteris will grow
in a variety of soil conditions as long
as it receives full sun and sufficient
moisture during establishment.
Although it is strikingly tall (typically 7
ft.), it is largely self-supporting; only
on very windy, wet sites is it likely to
need staking. Division every few yearsCoreopsis grandiflora