Cosmic Eye Coreopsis

Coreopsis

Coreopsis 'Cosmic Eye'

(kor-ee-OP-sis)

Synonyms: Tickseed

Just to break up the Chrysanthemum jag this site has been on here is a recent (2009) introduction of Coreopsis. It is outstanding as the red eye really stands out in the garden. The combination of red and yellow is probably one I wouldn’t think of right away but it works. Since this was on the long lost flash card of the P6000 I am not sure when it was taken but probably early summer. You can keep Coreopsis blooming most of the season if you lightly shear off the spent blooms. ‘Redshift’ is still going pretty strong and a good contribution to the fall garden.

Coreopsis is a tough drought tolerant perennial that can cover tough dry areas in the garden. If it is happy it can colonize large areas as a groundcover. It is easy propagated by division and that means a lot of free plants. It is equally at home on the border and with a little careful management can really be a star in the front or mid sections mixed with other perennials and annuals.

‘Cosmic Eye’ gets to a height of 12 to 18 inches (seldom if ever needs staking) and is hardy to USDA Zone 5 (-20 °F, -28.8 °C).

We are under a Winter Storm Watch for Saturday morning and evening, 4 to 8 inches of heavy wet snow is forecasted. That was a bummer to wake up to. It could be a disaster as many of the leaves are still on the trees. In case you don’t know a Winter Storm Watch means “Severe winter conditions, such as accumulations of heavy snow and/or ice of 4"/10 cm or more possible within the next 36-48 hours”. Ugh. that doesn’t sound too good.