Sunday, September 16, 2012

Coreopsis Testing

Tall Tickseed, is but one of the plants I saw at the Mt. Cuba Center's trial garden. Their trial garden had been under construction until earlier in the year, but I hadn't been to it since their wild flower celebration earlier in this April. This plant caught my eye because I grow the non-cultivar of it, which is about 2 images shorter, around 4' instead of 7'.

There were a number of Coreopsis growing there. Here are some of what I thought were the highlights.

Coreopsis 'Summer Punch' caught my eye because it reminded me of the true species of Blanket Flower, Gaillardia aristata. One could almost grow the two together.

Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset' it surprises me how much I like the color on this. The flower is a bronzed salmon tone that I want to say makes it a very unique color.

Coreopsis rosea 'Dreamcatcher' was the brightest and most lush looking of the purples. I think they said species growing in double rows there were annuals. The idea though was to grow them in a garden setting, but I'm not sure if that includes regular watering.

Coreopsis integrifolia had a very striking flower to it. I think they were growing it more to test its cold hardiness as it's native to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. My fingers are crossed that it survives.

They were also testing out Heucheras. Now, the majority of these are shade plants, so what's photographed here is their full sun testing. That tarp that's going around in the back is covering the full shade area of the trial garden where they had hundreds of Heucheras growing. This isn't a group of plants that I've ever wanted to grow because they're more about the foliage than the flowers. They come in a wide variety of colors though and easily add class to the garden. The shade garden in the summertime in particular tends to need some coloring up. So these are a great plant but not for me. 

So the real reason for me going to the Mt. Cuba Center was to learn about the Asteraceae plant family, which I'll get into more detail a little later.