Coreopsis (tickseeds)

We have multiple species from the genus Coreopsis that can grow in Norman gardens.

Coreopsis lanceolata

Lance-leaf Coreopsis is one of the more common and adaptable species in Norman gardens. It’s a short-lived perennial that usually lasts one to three years for an individual (personal observation). However, if they are happy they will reseed abundantly and sometimes in very different locations from where you originally placed them. Mine have migrated from a bit too much part-shade behind a redbud to the sunnier parts of the yard.

On a sunny day, dozens and dozens of bright golden yellow composite flowers float atop lush green foliage along a concrete driveway. Each yellow flower is atop a thin green stem, and the flowers are distributed evenly over the tops of the round-tipped, narrow green leaves.A slightly different lemon yellow sundrop primrose lurks in the back left of the image, and a clump of red blanketflowers are nestled in the back right of the plants. This is a photograph taken by the author in Norman, Oklahoma, in April 2026.

An extensive volunteer patch of Coreopsis lanceolata

How to grow

From seeds

To sprout, these seeds require 30 days of cold stratification. It’s easy to reach that in a season by sowing in the fall (usually before December-ish). You can put seeds in the freezer for 30 days or in the fridge on a damp paper towel in a bag or sealed container for 30 days (some will begin to germinate or mold, go ahead and plant them either way).

The seedlings will come up in what we think of as winter. They should be fine with any freezes that occur so don’t worry about sheltering them unless they just came from indoor or greenhouse sprouted seedlings.

  • Cold stratification: 30 days
  • Fridge tested? yes, with damp paper towel
  • Freezer tested? no
  • Scarification: no
  • Soaking needed? no
  • Light needed (if yes, don’t cover): yes
  • Germination season in wild? winter and spring
  • Storage life? unknown
  • How to tell when seeds ripe? the seeds are tan with a darker stripe. the seedheads are often still green on the outside. once the seedhead has turned completely brown, the seeds often have already fallen out.
  • Native Plant Network Propagation Protocol

How many plants to seeds?

  • I’ve never had just one, so I’m not sure if they need two or more to reproduce.

From plants

If you want to move plants, you can dig them when they are not blooming. The later in the spring (post March, for example, or in any weather above the 60s F), whenever you dig and move them, the plant will wilt dramatically. A week or two of consistent watering usually revives them. Once they start growing new leaves again they’re fine.

  • Root type: fibrous
  • Divisible: no
  • Diggable: yes
  • Recovers from root cut: yes
  • Life span: short-lived (2 or 3 years) perennial
  • Runners (stolons): no
  • Underground (rhizomes): no
  • Clump-forming: no
  • Vogt sociability rating: 3

Where they live

Moisture

  • Dry: no
  • Medium dry: yes
  • Average: yes
  • Medium wet: yes
  • Wet: yes
  • Aquatic: no
  • Winter flooding: no
  • Spring flooding: yes
  • Winter drought: yes
  • Summer drought: brief
  • Drought reaction: dies

Light

  • Full shade: no
  • Part shade: no
  • Full sun: yes

Soil types

  • Sand: yes
  • Loam: yes
  • Clay: yes
  • Shallow: yes
  • Containers: yes
  • Rocky: unknown
  • Gravel: unknown
  • Potting soil: yes
  • Well drained: yes
  • Poorly drained: no
  • Nutrient rich: yes
  • Nutrient poor: yes

Disturbance

  • Leaves are a bit fleshy and will look sad if you step on them
  • Mowing: can be cut back severely to encourage regrowth if sprawls or done blooming
  • Cut flower use: yes
  • Deer resistant: no
  • Rabbit resistant: presumed no from deer
  • Earwig resistant: once established (personal observation)

Thatch and leafy layers

  • Doesn’t seem to be able to germinate with many layers of leaves, so plant in areas where some bare ground is available (personal observation)

Temperature

  • The lowest temperature I have recorded for adult plants without damage is -12 degrees F when covered by snow and 2 degrees F without snow. This is not a species I worry about covering adult plants (or outdoor-sprouted seedlings) in the winter.

Interactions with other plants

Can coexist easily with
  • Ratibidia columnifera
  • Gaillardia pulchella
  • Callirhoe involucrata
  • Oenethera speciosa
  • Oenethera berlanderii
  • Senna roehmeriana
  • Asclepias viridis
  • Invasives
    • bermudagrass
    • crabgrass

Even in ideal habitat, can be outcompeted by

  • Helianthus maximiliani
  • Datura wrightii
  • Teucrium canadense
  • Sorghastrum nutans
  • Solidago sp Saxon
  • Vernonia baldwinii

In its ideal habitat, this species can outcompete

  • Oxalis violacea
  • Sedum nutallii
  • Sedum pulchellum
  • Asclepias asperula
  • Buffalograss
  • Oenethera macrocarpa

Can this plant tolerate allelopathy by

  • Black walnut: unknown
  • Pines: unknown
  • Eastern red cedars: unknown
  • Invasives
    • Tree of heaven: unknown
    • Bradford pears: unknown
    • Garlic mustard: unknown

Where can I get lance-leaved coreopsis for Oklahoma?

  • Ask a neighbor if they have any!
  • Dig existing seedlings in winter or late spring (they get dramatic and wilt when moved, so cooler temperatures, less wind, and late in the evening are best the later it gets).

Plants (potted or bare roots)

Oklahoma
Within one state
  • Missouri Wildflower Nursery: potted
  • Eco Blossom Nursery (Texas)
  • Painted Flower Farms (Texas)
More than a state away
  • Prairie Moon: bare roots and potted

Seeds

Oklahoma
  • Johnston Seed Company
Within one state
  • [Native American Seed]https://seedsource.com/lanceleaf-coreopsis/)
  • Buffalo Seed Company
  • Missouri Wildflower Nursery
More than a state away
  • Prairie Moon
  • Prairie Legacy Inc
  • Prairie Nursery
  • Seed Savers Exchange
  • Native Seed Search

Find more photos and information

Coreopsis tinctoria

This is an annual. It needs low competition to grow, so I have generally failed to get it to come up when I have sowed it in a dense bermudagrass yard in the past. If you’ve grown it, tell me more please.

How to grow

From seeds

  • Cold stratification: no
  • Fridge tested? no
  • Freezer tested? no
  • Scarification: no
  • Soaking needed? no
  • Germination season in wild? [fall] (https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=asteraceae-coreopsis-399&referer=wildflower)
  • Storage life? 3 to 5 years at least
  • How to tell when seeds ripe?
  • Native Plant Network Propagation Protocol

How many plants to make seeds?

  • Can self (need more than one to make viable seeds): unknown
  • Separate male and female flowers on different plants: unknown (look up?)

From plants

Details about dividing or planting that are beyond the points below.

Where they live

Moisture

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower’s species account says moist soil only, and high water needs. Missouri Botanical Gardens says it is fine with dry to average. I don’t know!

  • Dry: yes
  • Medium dry: yes
  • Average: yes
  • Medium wet: yes
  • Wet: yes
  • Aquatic: no
  • Winter flooding: unknown
  • Spring flooding: unknown
  • Winter drought: no
  • Summer drought: maybe? unclear from conflicting descriptions
  • Drought reaction: unknown

Light

  • Full shade: no
  • Part shade: yes
  • Full sun: yes

Soil types

Again, LBJ Wildflower Center says sandy and moist only, MBG says clay and rocks are fine.

  • Sand: yes
  • Loam: yes
  • Clay: yes in one source
  • Shallow: yes
  • Containers: yes
  • Rocky: yes
  • Gravel: unknown
  • Potting soil: yes
  • Well drained: yes
  • Poorly drained: unclear
  • Nutrient rich: unknown
  • Nutrient poor: yes
  • Calcareous: moderate tolerance
  • Acidic: unknown
  • Alkaline: unknown

Disturbance

  • It thrives along roadsides and railroads, so I think it can take occasional mowing as long as you let it go to seed since it’s an annual.

  • Stepping on: unknown

  • Mowing: at least to keep habitat good

  • Cut flower use: yes

  • Deer resistant: yes

  • Rabbit resistant: presumed yes because deer

  • Earwig resistant: unknown

Thatch and leafy layers

  • A disturbance annual, so plant in areas where some bare ground is available

Temperature

I haven’t grown these successfully yet and need to try again.

  • Lowest temperature recorded for adult plants (including rosettes) without damage (F): unknown (covered)
  • Lowest temperature recorded for adult plants (including rosettes) without damage (F): unknown (uncovered)
  • Lowest temperature recorded for adult plants (including rosettes) with damage (F): unknown (covered)
  • Lowest temperature recorded for adult plants (including rosettes) with damage (F): unknown (uncovered)

Interactions with other plants

Can coexist easily with
  • Need to investigate more
Even in ideal habitat, can be outcompeted by
  • Most perennials
In its ideal habitat, this species can outcompete
  • Probably shorter annuals
Can this plant tolerate allelopathy by
  • Black walnut: unknown
  • Pines: unknown
  • Eastern red cedars: unknown
  • Invasives
    • Tree of heaven: unknown
    • Bradford pears: unknown
    • Garlic mustard: unknown
Does it need neighbors?
  • Parasitic plant? no
  • Will flop without neighboring plants or support? sometimes

Where can I get?

  • Ask a neighbor if they have seeds or seedlings!

Plants (potted or bare roots)

Oklahoma
Within one state
More than a state away

Seeds

Oklahoma
Within one state
More than a state away

Find more photos and information

Other species

to be added (C auriculata, C palmata, C grandiflora, C verticillata, etc)

What is the function of Coreopsis in the ecosystem…

in Oklahoma?

in general?

References

Curry, Mary. 2023. North Central Texas Wildflowers. Second edition, online. Decatur, Texas, USA: Self-published.
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