Full Sun
Easy care
Moderate watering
Frost Hardy
8a
USDA zone
-12°C
Minimum temperature
Expected size
Height | Spread | |
|---|---|---|
1.2m | Max | 60cm |
50cm | Min | 40cm |
1 years to reach maturity
Flowering
-
spring
-
summer
-
autumn
-
winter
This plant has no fragrance
Tickseed Overview
Cheerful and lovely, the sunny blooms of the Tickseed plant are a beautiful addition to a temperate or rock garden. There are around eighty different species of Coreopsis, which include both annuals and perennials. The blooms of this plant are similar to those of the daisy, and are great for cut flower arrangements, for border planting and in cutting gardens. It comes in many colours and sizes, can be edible as well as medicinal, depending on the cultivar.
Common problems with Tickseed
Pests include caterpillars. Diseases include powdery mildew, leaf spot and rust.
Tickseed Companion Plants
Plant along side, Asclepias tuberosa, Aster spectabilis, Baptisia australis, Campanula rotundifolia, Sporobolus heterolepis or Schizachyrium scoparium
How to harvest Tickseed
To collect the seeds, just snip off the entire seed head, or collect your seeds as they develop on the plant. You can pry open a seed head and carefully extract the seeds, but just crushing the seed head between your fingers is good enough. To harvest flowers, cut at base of stem when in full bloom.
How to propagate Tickseed
Seed
Seed a prepared area of soil in spring. Seeds need light to germinate, so cover lightly with soil or perlite or simply press seeds into moist soil. Keep watered until germination within 21 days.
Cuttings
Can be started from cuttings from spring to mid-summer.
Division
Divide plants every few years as new growth begins in the spring, lifting plants and dividing them into clumps.
Special features of Tickseed
Attracts useful insects
Insects such as butterflies and bees.
Drought resistant
Drought tolerant once well-established.
Indoor plant
Plant seeds indoors under grow lights 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date and transplant outdoors after all danger of frost has passed. Can be kept indoors if given enough sunlight.
Attracts birds
Birds like Goldfinches love eating the “tick” sized seeds on the spent flower heads.
Pot plant
Good plant for containers given sufficient sunlight an drainage holes.
Other uses of Tickseed
Borders
Medicinal
With some varieties a tea can be made from the roots. It is emetic and is also used in the treatment of diarrhea.
Edible
Some varieties can be used as a coffee substitute or tea can be made from the dried plant.
