Coreopsis UpTick™ Gold & Bronze

Coreopsis UpTick™ Gold & Bronze: Sunset Daisies With a Bronze Bullseye

Golden petals around a wide bronze-red eye, like a daisy that went to a tanning salon and came back glowing. This tickseed blooms on and on in full sun. BRONZED AND BRAGGING.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Coreopsis 'Baluptgonz'
• Common Name: Tickseed
• Series: UpTick™, from Darwin Perennials
• Height: 30–36 cm (12–14 in)
• Spread: 30–36 cm (12–14 in)
• Flowers: Large golden-yellow daisies with a wide bronze-red centre
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Narrow green leaves in a dense, mounded clump
• Features: Long blooming, compact, mildew resistant, good for cutting

Where to Plant: Plant it at the front of a hot, sunny border, in containers, or massed along a driveway for a warm, sunset-coloured edge. Its compact habit keeps the edge tidy. Grow a few extra if you like cut flowers.

Companion Plants: Give this gold and bronze coreopsis a sunny, dry bed with blue, rose and chartreuse. Aubrieta 'Rock On Blue' carpets the front at 10 to 15 cm with blue-purple flowers from April to June. Nepeta 'Chartreuse on the Loose' adds lavender-blue flowers over gold leaves at 20 to 25 cm from June to September. Echinacea PowWow® Wild Berry brings rose-pink coneflowers at 40 to 60 cm from June to September. Pennisetum alopecuroides arches behind at 75 to 100 cm with soft bottlebrush plumes.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil. Wet winter soil is its biggest enemy, so avoid low spots and heavy, undrained clay. Water regularly in the first season, then during dry spells. Deadhead or lightly shear spent flowers to keep the show going. Leave the stems standing over winter, then cut back in early spring when new growth starts. A sheltered, well-drained spot helps in colder zone 5 gardens. Divide every few years in spring if the clump opens up in the middle.

History: The UpTick™ series comes from Darwin Perennials, which selected it for compact, mounded plants, larger flowers and a longer season of bloom than older tickseeds. It won Best New Nursery Stock Plant Introduction at the Four Oaks Trade Show in the UK in 2016.

Final Thoughts: Mildew resistant, deer resistant and great for cutting. Plant it where the sun bakes. NO SPF REQUIRED.