Prairie coreopsis
Coreopsis palmata · Asteraceae
Stiff, upright stems clothed in leaves shaped like a bird's foot, topped with pale yellow daisies in early summer. The foliage turns red and orange in autumn.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid June to mid July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around prairie coreopsis
The planner designed this bed around prairie coreopsis 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 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why prairie coreopsis stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Prairie coreopsis × 3, yellow
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 3 Leadwort × 23, blue
- 4 Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' × 3, tan
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 8 Lady tulip × 12, white
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- At the back. At 2½ ft it is seen over leadwort (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' (3½ ft) and brown-eyed Susan (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From mid June to mid July.
- Fills a gap. For five of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Lady tulip comes up between the other plants for colour early in the year. The scheme leans cool (pink, blue and purple) and uses yellow for warmth, with tan and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 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 prairie coreopsis 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.
A tough prairie plant that knits into a weed-proof colony on dry soil. Grown as much for its stiff texture and autumn colour as for its flowers.
- Dry prairie and meadow planting
- Holding a sunny bank
- Autumn foliage colour
What to plant with prairie coreopsis
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Butterfly weed: in flower together for four weeks, from late June; happy in the same dry soil.
- Pale purple coneflower: in flower together for six weeks, from mid June; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about prairie coreopsis
Does prairie coreopsis need sun or shade?
Prairie coreopsis grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does prairie coreopsis grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does prairie coreopsis flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Late June to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 5 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Early June to mid July |
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 prairie coreopsis be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 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 prairie coreopsis plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 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 prairie coreopsis 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.
Will prairie coreopsis spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by underground stems into a dense patch. Best with other strong growers.
What flowers after prairie coreopsis?
Prairie coreopsis is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Garden phlox: from mid July to early September, 3½ ft tall.
What does prairie coreopsis look like in winter?
Prairie coreopsis 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 'Full Moon' Coreopsis 'Full Moon'
- 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
- 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
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid June to mid July; daisies; yellow
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
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.