Coreopsis 'Full Moon'
Coreopsis 'Full Moon' ·
Large, soft canary-yellow flowers, as wide as a child's palm, on a tall, airy plant from early summer to autumn.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around coreopsis 'Full Moon'
The planner designed this bed around coreopsis 'Full Moon' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why coreopsis 'Full Moon' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Coreopsis 'Full Moon' × 3, yellow
- 2 Winter heath × 7, pink
- 3 Sea thrift × 8, white
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 5 Foxglove beardtongue × 3, white
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
- 8 Surprise lily × 5, pink
Why this plant
- The only daisies. The others are bells, globes, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only yellow. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is the step between silver sage (12 in) in front and foxglove beardtongue (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 14 weeks. From late June to mid September.
- Closes the season. For its last four weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Sea thrift is the plant there is most of: 8 of the 34. The most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, from late May.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where coreopsis 'Full Moon' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The pale yellow of 'Moonbeam' at twice the size, and sturdier in heat. It goes with every colour, and needs no deadheading to keep flowering.
- Long-flowering colour for the middle of a border
- Pale yellow to link stronger colours
- Cutting
What to plant with coreopsis 'Full Moon'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Purple coneflower: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for 11 weeks.
- Russian sage: in flower together for 10 weeks, from mid July; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about coreopsis 'Full Moon'
Does coreopsis 'Full Moon' need sun or shade?
Coreopsis 'Full Moon' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does coreopsis 'Full Moon' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does coreopsis 'Full Moon' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Mid June to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Mid June to mid September |
| Zone 9 | Early June to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should coreopsis 'Full Moon' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many coreopsis 'Full Moon' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is coreopsis 'Full Moon' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like coreopsis 'Full Moon'?
Coreopsis 'Full Moon' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Gloriosa daisy: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 8 in narrower.
- Tickseed 'Sunray': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 8 in shorter, 8 in narrower.
- False sunflower 'Summer Sun': the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 12 in taller, 4 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after coreopsis 'Full Moon'?
Coreopsis 'Full Moon' is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does coreopsis 'Full Moon' look like in winter?
Coreopsis 'Full Moon' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Coreopsis
- Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull' Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull'
- Coreopsis 'Mercury Rising' Coreopsis 'Mercury Rising'
- Lanceleaf coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata
- Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' Coreopsis auriculata 'Nana'
- Pink tickseed Coreopsis rosea
- Prairie coreopsis Coreopsis palmata
- Tall coreopsis Coreopsis tripteris
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Zagreb' Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb'
- Tickseed 'Early Sunrise' Coreopsis grandiflora 'Early Sunrise'
- Tickseed 'Sunray' Coreopsis grandiflora 'Sunray'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid September; daisies; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.