Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants
A comprehensive database of Tennessee native plants
Tall Tickseed
 Photo Courtesy Prairie Moon Nursery http://www.prairiemoon.com/  Photo Courtesy Prairie Moon Nursery http://www.prairiemoon.com/ |
Tall TickseedCoreopsis tripterisFull to part sun; moderately wet to moderately dry moisture level; adaptable to poor soils including, sandy, rocky, and clay; pH adaptable. 3-9 ft. height (usually 4-5 ft.), blooms summer to fall, yellow flowers, freely self-seeds.Germination Code: ANative Region: Scattered lightly statewide, concentrated in Cumberland PlateauLow maintenance plant with showy flowers. This species of coreopsis has a rhizomatous growth pattern (spreading by underground creeping rootstalks) and is reliably perennial even in clay soils. It is also disease resistant. It is aggressive, especially in moist conditions, and can form large colonies. Attracts birds, butterflies and bees.flower;sun;wet;clay |
Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants 
I put this plant on my spring purchase list for this year and did some reading and Internet searches on it. I came across a study conducted by the Mt. Cuba Center (a non-profit, native plant botanical garden in Delaware) which I found very helpful. Apparently this species is really prone to flopping over. The Mt Cuba report said it started flopping over by mid-June and the problem was too severe to ignore. However, the Center found a variety growing wild in Alabama which they named ‘Gold Standard’, and the Center has been working to help make it available to the general public. It grows a foot shorter, is more sturdy, less likely to flop and has a better flower display. At the same time, it does not sacrifice any of the wildlife benefits that the species has. I have been burned often enough by cultivars of native plants that aren’t as hardy, don’t attract wildlife as well, or can’t compete with other plants that I tend to stay away from cultivars, but this sounds like a good one.