Coreopsis

coreopsis lanceolata

Coreopsis lanceolata is the lanceleaf tickseed that’s very common in our area. There are many species and cultivars of tickseed to love, all different colors, heights, and leaf shapes. Lanceolata has bright yellow leaves with distinctive darker yellow centers. It is a native perennial to Central Texas and it’s a very common wildflower for us.

It does great in borders and beds and looks great with other relatives from the sunflower family. The flowers are on raised, long stems above the basal leaves and each plant forms a small clump. It loves full sun but it will tolerate partial shade.

It prefers soil that is very low in organic matter so don’t add organic matter to your soil for this plant. So, it’s a great choice for those of us that live in areas that have poor and rocky soils.

It’s very widely available, easy to plant, and you can plant it from spring to summer. It’s a perennial and although it’s very short, the flowers add about another twelve inches or so to the height. It is also very compact, usually less than a foot wide.

Coreopsis is a low water use, but is fine with garden companions that are medium water use plants. But, it isn’t very drought tolerant, so it requires extra water when the weather is hot and dry.