Thursday, April 10, 2008

PLANT OF THE MOMENT-COREOPSIS MAJOR 'STEELATA'

The plant of the moment does not have particularly spectacular foliage, or a lovely, unusual flower color, fragrance or size of blossom. Its an easy plant to grow though that likes full sun and poor soil.

I planted coreopsis major when I lived in Pittsburgh, PA. It hadn't even gotten to the third year "leap" stage, but it bloomed in its second year and that fall we moved to North Carolina. I'm not even sure why I loved it so much. Maybe it was the tall, strongly held stems or the finely cut foliage.

When planning my gardens here in North Carolina, I wanted to include this flower I thought was so interesting. I had forgotten the name though and the above picture with the three little, yellow flowers held up in the air was all I had to go on. I thought it was a helianthus or heliopsis and so of course I have not been able to find it. While walking through the greenhouses last week helping a customer I caught a glimpse of the foliage on coreopsis major and instantly knew that it was the plant I have been looking for and for this reason Coreopsis Major 'Steelata' is my plant of the moment.

No comments: