Tickseed · Coreopsis · Ohio Native Plant

About This Plant

Gold That Holds Through Summer

Coreopsis is the most reliably cheerful plant of the Ohio native garden. The flowers are simple, golden, and abundant — open daisy forms with eight ray petals, each tipped with a slight notch, surrounding a warm central disc that deepens to orange-brown at its heart. The stems are slender and branching, so a mature plant carries many flowers at once in an airy, informal arrangement that moves pleasantly in any breeze.

Several species grow in Ohio, ranging from compact dry-soil plants under two feet to tall meadow giants that can reach six feet or more. All share the same essential character: the golden flower, the lean adaptability, the willingness to bloom for weeks on end. They are among the easiest native wildflowers to establish and among the most rewarding to have.

Coreopsis thrives in the lean, dry, well-drained ground where many plants fail — roadsides, gravel, sandy banks, and thin prairie soils. Richer, wetter conditions often produce floppy stems and fewer flowers. This is a plant that performs best when not coddled.

Best garden uses

Pollinator gardens Prairie & meadow plantings Dry sunny borders Gravel gardens Roadside plantings Cut flower gardens

Botanical Plate

Tickseed Coreopsis

Seasonal Interest

A Year in the Life

Spring

Basal rosettes of foliage establish; flowering stems begin to lengthen — C. lanceolata is one of the earlier species to come into bud.

Early sum.

First flowers open in June; the bloom builds quickly into the golden peak, with multiple flowers per plant in constant succession.

Midsummer

With deadheading, bloom continues through July and August; the tall species (C. tripteris) reaches its peak later in summer.

Late sum.

Bloom eases; seed heads form and goldfinches begin working the dried discs for seed — a busy late-season activity.

Fall

Dried stems and seed heads persist; self-sown seedlings may appear in open soil nearby. Basal foliage of some species remains green.

Wildlife Support

Who Visits

Coreopsis flowers are open and accessible — flat, shallow discs with plenty of landing area — making them available to a wide range of visiting insects. They are especially active with smaller native bees, which match the flower head size well.

🐝Native Beespollen & nectar

Sweat Bees (Halictidae) Bumblebees Small Native Bees Metallic Green Bees Coreopsis specialist bees

🦋Butterfliesnectar

Skippers Sulphurs Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Painted Lady Various fritillaries

🐦Birdsseed

American Goldfinch Song Sparrow House Finch

American goldfinches are among the most enthusiastic visitors to Coreopsis seed heads in late summer — clinging to the dried discs and extracting seeds with quick precision. Left uncut, the stems provide a reliable late-summer to fall food source.

Care & Cultivation

Growing Conditions

Coreopsis asks for very little once established in the right conditions. The key principle: less is more. Lean soil, good drainage, and full sun produce compact, floriferous plants. Rich soil and excess moisture produce tall, floppy stems and reduced bloom.

Light	Full sun; blooms and form both decline quickly in shade
Soil	Well-drained, average to lean; sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils all work well
Moisture	Dry to medium; drought-tolerant once established; avoid consistently wet or waterlogged ground
Deadheading	Extends bloom significantly; shear lightly after the first flush to encourage a second wave
Fertiliser	Avoid; rich soil encourages leggy growth and fewer flowers
Self-sowing	Seeds freely if heads are left; can spread in open ground — welcome or manage as needed
Division	Divide clumps every 2–3 years in spring to maintain vigour

Planting Partners

Grows Well With

The warm gold of Coreopsis is one of the most versatile colours in the prairie palette — it reads well against cool purples and blues, deepens alongside russet grasses, and brightens beside white-flowered species without clashing.

Colour contrast

Blazing Star Liatris spp.

Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa

Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea

Prairie texture

Little Bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium

Prairie Dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis

Rattlesnake Master Eryngium yuccifolium

Sequence companions

Golden Alexanders Zizia aurea

Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta

Ohio Native Asters Symphyotrichum spp.

Did You Know?

The Stories Behind This Plant

01

Named for the Seed That Looks Like a Bug

The Coreopsis seed is one of the most distinctive in the native flora. Small, flat, and dark, it has two small prongs or projections at one end that make it look, quite unmistakably, like a tick. Both names tell that story: the common name "tickseed" is a direct description, and the genus name Coreopsis comes from the Greek koris (bedbug or tick) and opsis (resemblance). It is an unusual piece of botanical naming that bypasses the flower entirely and describes only the seed.

Those small prongs are not accidental — they are a dispersal adaptation. The prongs catch on fur, feathers, and clothing, carrying the seed away from the parent plant on passing animals. This mechanism, called epizoochory, is how tickseed spreads across meadows over time, hitching rides and colonising new ground whenever the opportunity presents itself.

02

What Looks Like One Flower Is Actually Dozens

Coreopsis belongs to the daisy family, Asteraceae — and like all composites, what appears to be a single golden flower is actually a dense collection of many individual flowers. The eight "petals" are each a complete ray floret with their own petal and reduced reproductive parts; the central disc holds 50 or more tiny disc florets, each one a complete flower that opens in sequence from the outer ring inward. A single Coreopsis head in full bloom contains well over 50 individual flowers, which helps explain why it is so productive for visiting insects.

03

One Species Gets Enormous

Most gardeners know Coreopsis as a compact, knee-high wildflower. Coreopsis tripteris — the tall tickseed — did not receive that memo. In moist, fertile ground it routinely reaches five or six feet and can push toward eight, becoming a substantial back-of-border presence with large golden flowers on a broad, branching canopy. It blooms later than C. lanceolata, extending the golden season well into August — a different plant entirely in scale and character, despite bearing the same family resemblance.

04

Most Garden Coreopsis Are Not Ohio Natives

The thread-leaf Coreopsis cultivars ('Moonbeam', 'Zagreb', and similar) that appear widely in nurseries and landscape plantings are based on Coreopsis verticillata, a species native to the eastern and southeastern United States but not documented as native to Ohio. These are excellent garden plants, but they are not the same ecological contributors as the Ohio native species. The native C. lanceolata, C. tripteris, and their relatives offer comparable ornamental value while actually belonging here — and supporting the local insects that have evolved alongside them.

Ohio Species

Ohio Coreopsis

Four native Coreopsis grow in Ohio, ranging widely in height, habitat, and garden application. All produce the characteristic golden daisy flowers; they differ in when they bloom, how large they get, and what soil conditions they prefer.

Most Common · Garden-ready

Lance-leaved Tickseed

Coreopsis lanceolata

The most widely available and adaptable Ohio species. Compact, early-blooming, and extremely drought-tolerant. The standard choice for dry sunny borders and naturalised prairie plantings — and one of the longest-blooming native perennials with consistent deadheading.

1–2 ftDry–mediumJune–AugSelf-sows

Tallest · Late-blooming

Tall Tickseed

Coreopsis tripteris

A dramatic tall species reaching 5–8 feet in moist, average ground — entirely different in scale from the compact forms. Blooms midsummer into August; the trilobed lower leaves (giving the species name) are distinctive. A bold back-of-border plant.

4–8 ftAvg–moistJuly–AugTall

Dry prairie · Rhizomatous

Prairie Tickseed

Coreopsis palmata

A prairie specialist with distinctive palmately lobed leaves — wider and more interesting in foliage than the other species. Spreads gradually by rhizome to form a colony; very drought-tolerant and well-suited to lean, open prairie plantings and dry roadsides.

1–2.5 ftDry prairieSpreadsLobed leaf

Woodland edge

Star Tickseed

Coreopsis pubescens

The most shade-tolerant Ohio coreopsis, found in dry to medium woodland edges and open woods — where other species wouldn't survive. Softly hairy foliage gives a slightly different texture; flowers similar to C. lanceolata. Underused in gardens.

1–3 ftDry–mediumPart shadeHairy