Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Large Flowered Tickseed, Threadleaf Coreopsis

Description:

Compact plant with large, magnificent daisy-like ruby-red flowers with white tips and a gold central disk; tolerant of pests and drier soils; thriving in sandy and rocky soils; coreopsis needs good drainage

Ornamental Features

Ruby Frost Tickseed is smothered in stunning ruby-red daisy flowers with gold eyes and white tips at the ends of the stems from early summer to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its ferny leaves remain emerald green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Ruby Frost Tickseed is an open herbaceous annual with a mounded form. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Ruby Frost Tickseed is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Ruby Frost Tickseed will grow to be about 32 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Ruby Frost Tickseed is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.