Coreopsis rosea 'AMERICAN DREAM'

Coreopsis (tickseed) is a wonderful, maintenance-free perennial which shines its way through any garden with rich-coloured flowers all summer long. You can have a country garden or be a city-garden enthusiast, coreopsis will still have features suitable for your plot. Pink coreopsis comes from a region of Nova Scotia to Maryland and offers great hardiness and tolerance of wet soil as it naturally grows in moist to partly wet, sandy banks of river streams.

American Dream coreopsis was, in spite of its name, voted number one perennial of 1997 in the Netherlands. Discovery of this variety was surely an achievement worth the fuss. This plant makes thin, thread-like leaves and stems that form a lovely, mat-forming cushion of moss-green foliage that looks great if grown in light gray sand or mulched with white pebbles. In mid July small, daisy-like, rich pink flowers with yellow centres come out and continue blooming for at least 3 months, sometimes until October if the weather is sunny and warm. They appear in such profusion that makes it very unlikely not to fall in love with it.

The desirable advantage of this variety is that it is moist-loving and can be grown in soil that is heavy and clay. All you need to do is mix the upper part with some sand to keep it from compacting. Thus you can be sure that in a couple of years you will have so much coreopsis you will be able to give out young plants to friends. It is a rather spreading plant which is ideal when you need a quick groundcover. If not, remove side shoots in early summer to stop the mother plant from expanding. No need for fertilizing whatsoever, no pH requirements. Just grow it in full sun and never let the soil dry out completely. Hardy to min. -30°C (USDA zone 5), some resources go even lower.

Last update 01-12-2012