Lanceleaf Coreopsis

Description

Botanical Name:  Coreopsis lanceolata

Common Name:  Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Lanceleaf Tickseed, Sand Coreopsis

Description:  Beautiful Florida native perennial that grows 2-3′ tall and wide and is semi-evergreen to evergreen. Can be planted in sun to part shade in your garden beds, rock gardens, containers, meadows, or prairies. It blooms pretty daisy-type yellow flowers late Spring to Summer. Deadheading increases flower production, but leave some seed heads on at the end of the season for it to reseed itself. Is drought tolerant after becoming established. Attracts butterflies, native bees, and other pollinators. The seeds are eaten by birds and other small wildlife. Good cut flower. Tends to sprawl if in too wet of soil.

It occurs naturally in moist sandhills, marshes, and along swamp edges.

Another really cool aspect of coreopsis is it attracts predatory or parasitoid insects that prey on pest bugs. In other words, it attracts the good bugs that get rid of the bad bugs. Which means you need to have this in your garden for Integrated Pest Management or Conservation Biological Control.

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray.

This plant in 1-gallon containers is 5-15″ tall, not including the container.

Plant Lore:  In 1991, all twelve species of Coreopsis native to Florida were designated as Florida’s official wildflower. The genus name Coreopsis is derived from the Greek words koris, meaning “bug,” and opsis, meaning “view.” This refers to the shape of the fruit and is also the source of the plant’s common name, “tickseed.”

Florida Hardiness Zones 8  – 9