The weather is hot and humid and Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush' is in full bloom. Even with all the rain storms of the last few weeks, this perennial is standing straight and blooming profusely. 'Autumn Blush' is a butter yellow coreopsis with a strawberry red eye that changes with the seasons. When the cooler temperatures arrive in autumn, the strawberry "blush" will cover more of the bloom.
Terra Nova Nurseries sent me four small trial plugs of Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush' in September 2009. I made no heroic efforts to overwinter the coreopsis. Three were planted together in the butterfly garden (southeast) and one was planted by my sidewalk (southwest).
Not only did the coreopsis survive our zone 7 wet winter, torrential rains and snow, but all four plugs were fast-growing to an impressive size. A group planting of only three coreopsis makes a huge impact!
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Coreopsis prefers a well-drained, sunny location. I plant these in locations that are also favorable for agastache—which is a great companion for coreopsis.
 | I already had an Agastache 'Summer Glow' that I purchased at a local nursery. The agastache, coincidentally another Terra Nova plant, is just beginning to bloom. I recently moved it to a grouping of three coreopsis. The colors are perfect together—probably not a coincidence, after all! |
 | Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush' plants, provided by Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. were planted on September 29, 2010. Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons. |
I have 2 of these and they're doing fine. My favorite coreopsis is Full Moon which is growing slowly due to my error in location which I've since changed. Full Moon is hard to find locally but I've gotten it from High Country Gardens. I like mid to pale yellow flowers with almost any other flower color. I like your idea of combining agastache in the planting design. Jane
ReplyDeleteJane - I moved a lot of my 'Creme Brulee' this spring. They were at the very top of my garden in sun, well-drained soil but never performed well. I left a few clumps anyway and then divided the others into small pieces and planted them beside my walkway where one of the 'Autumn Blush' and a few other trial coreopsis are happy.
ReplyDeleteOther good companions...in my butterfly garden...
I have gaillardia 'Burgundy', sea holly 'Little Hobbit', salvia greggii 'Yellow Cloud' around these. Also, there is agastache 'Blue Fortune' behind the grouping of 3 'Autumn Blush'.
Cameron,
ReplyDeleteI have been the killer of all coreopsis I planted until Meg moved in. She has planted several and all are thriving. I think the ones we have are the common garden center ones. This one is a stunner, I will look for it. Do you have coreopsis grandiflora, read a blog article about it recently and now want some of it.
Randy - I don't have grandiflora. I think that I've had it in the past and had to deadhead it a lot? I have thought about adding the very tall tripteris to go with my bronze fennel, but I'll have to dig out all of the surrounding fennel babies to make room! (Are you going to Annie's Sunshine Lavender Farm this weekend? We are planning to go tomorrow after lunch.)
ReplyDeleteI planted this last year and it went crazy. Morning sun only, shade the rest of the time. It survived our zone 5 winter, which was somewhat mild, compared to past winters, and we had lots of snow cover. It's growing very well and beginning to put on flower buds now.
ReplyDeleteI really like how 'Autumn Sunset' is sensitive to the weather temps in what colors it shows more of. Blooms are quite variable in the amount of red they show - a very desirable trait in my book!
Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset' also survived and is beginning to put on buds as well. LOVE the color of this one!
Nice! Coreopsis is a favorite here. Some of the newer one's are less hardy so it's good to know your trial worked out OK. Do you know if it comes true from seed?
ReplyDeletecameron, I would love to see your garden in person, do you ever do any open house tours? Sorry to be so forward but I've been following your blog for a while and haven't seen anything, but I still have high hopes ;)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colors on the Coreopsis and Agastache. I've never had much success with either one of these plants even though I've planted them according to directions. They seem to be short lived perennials in my garden.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice combination with the agastache.
ReplyDeleteI've been tempted to buy coreopsis moonbeam.
Any 'daisy' like bloom is alright with me.
I like the color and an excellent idea to plant it with agastache.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
I agree...nice combo, but then again...you have many nice companion plants.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Lily.
Don't think it's the same. The only lily seeds I've saved are from Blackberry Lilies.
I like this coreopsis~good color and that it could survive the winter you had says a lot for this plant~Freda, have you had luck with Agastache rupestris~I have a few plants in containers and they seem very happy.But not sure they can take the winters. gail
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested to see some 'real garden' photos of coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset'. There are so many cool cultivars out today, but it's hard to get an idea of their true colors from the catalogs!
ReplyDelete