Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'

Coreopsis 'Moonbeam': The Peacekeeper of Loud Borders

Pale lemon-yellow stars over a cloud of thread-fine leaves, soft enough to calm down even your loudest border. 'Moonbeam' is the dimmer switch of the garden. MOOD LIGHTING, ALL SUMMER.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam' (a hybrid of C. verticillata)
• Common Name: Threadleaf Tickseed
• Height: 38–46 cm (15–18 in)
• Spread: 41–51 cm (16–20 in)
• Flowers: Small, pale lemon-yellow, star-shaped daisies
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Very fine, thread-like green leaves forming a soft mound
• Features: Long blooming, heat tolerant, rabbit resistant, salt tolerant

Where to Plant: Use it at the front of a sunny bed, along a dry path, or massed on a slope. Because it tolerates salt and dry soil, it is a good pick for the hot strip by the driveway or sidewalk.

Companion Plants: Use the pale yellow haze of 'Moonbeam' in a sunny, dry bed with raspberry, mixed coneflowers and red-turning grass. Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Peridot' carpets the front at 10 to 15 cm with bright yellow flowers from May to September. Sedum SunSparkler® 'Plum Dazzled' adds plum leaves and raspberry flowers at 20 to 23 cm from July to September. Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' brings mixed coneflowers at 55 to 75 cm from July to September. Panicum Prairie Winds® 'Cheyenne Sky' adds blades that turn wine red by midsummer.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil. Sandy or gravelly soil is fine. Soggy winter soil is not. Water well through the first season, then only in long droughts. Deadheading one tiny flower at a time is nobody's idea of fun. Instead, shear the whole plant back by about a third in midsummer when blooming slows. It will tidy up and flower again. Cut it back in late fall or early spring. It spreads slowly into a wider patch. Divide every two or three years in spring to keep the centre full.

History: 'Moonbeam' was the first Perennial Plant of the Year, chosen by the Perennial Plant Association in 1992. It is usually sold as a form of Coreopsis verticillata, the threadleaf tickseed native to the eastern United States, but it is believed to be a hybrid between that species and an unknown parent.

Final Thoughts: Heat, drought, road salt and deer: it's unbothered by all of it. Plant a row along the driveway. LIGHTS ON, FEET UP.