Kittyluvr400
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

Coreopsis

I have 4 coreopsis that have truly beat me up this summer. The deadheading of hundreds upon hundreds of teenie flowers have taken their toll on me. I am ready to give up. All season they have been gorgeous, I imagine due to my daily deadheading. I just can't do it anymore and am going to let nature takes it from here.

What should I expect? Will blooms still happen if I stop deadheading? Just not as much? I feel guilty at the thought of neglecting them, but I have had enough.

Anybody out there who has coreopsis NOT deadheading them? Curious if they will still produce flowers, just not as many.

Thanks

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rainbowgardener
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Nope, sorry, but once the flowers set seed, it will quickly stop blooming and start dying back.

Kittyluvr400
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Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

Well that was not what I needed to hear. LOL
I guess there are always mums.....

Coreopsis will NOT be in my garden next yr. Gorgeous, but so are a lot of other plants. Colorful foliage is my new thing.

Thanks. :-)

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KeyWee
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Location: West Kentucky

I used to love coreopsis but had the same problems. So I switched to orange cosmos, and while it is an annual, it self-seeds easily in my location. The orange cosmos blooms a long time and I love the orange color. However ....... this year, I have had some deer/rabbit problems with the flower heads being chewed off. Note to self: plant WAY more next year:)

Kittyluvr400
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

I do t get it. I stopped deadheading the dreaded coreopsis Aug 20.

This morning, tons of blooms. Yes, there were hundreds of dead blooms, but it still keeps going. Did I do all that daily deadheading for nothing? Unless you are right next to it, it looks like lack of deadheading was not an issue. It keeps blooming.

Even though it seems to take care of itself without my input, I will get rid of it, (I see the plant up close and don't like the wilted ones) or attempt a transplant in the yard to see how it does in some shade next year. Even without flowers it does have interesting foliage.

I just don't know why this plant won't stop flowering.

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rainbowgardener
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Well, there's a time delay in there. I said it will slow down AFTER the flowers set seed. Just because the blooms are looking spent doesn't mean they have yet set seed... The plant's mission is to reproduce. After it has set enough seeds to feel that mission is accomplished (which is quite a few, nature believes in overkill), then it can quit.

LIcenter
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Location: Long Island, NY Zone 7a/6b-ish

I just let nature take it's course with mine. All of my gardens are built with the critters in mind, and Coreopsis fits the bill in that it will bring in many finches to feed off the seeds. I see goldfinches daily fluttering about this plant. It's a keeper in my book.

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pinksand
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I've deadheaded mine in the past but just haven't prioritized it this year. Most of mine experienced a much shorter bloom period, but I have one that has continually put out new blooms since late June. It's not as pretty now as it was in July, but there are still some pretty flower heads on the plant :) Maybe it depends on the variety? This one is a lanceleaf type with maroon and cream colored blooms.

Kittyluvr400
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Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

It was so pretty, but too much work to keep it looking pretty. It is still blooming, but up close the combination of dead blooms vs live blooms, just kinda ew. The foliage is the tiny needle like type, the blooms yellow with an orange center. I'll put some nice grasses where they were.

All help is appreciated. TY

Kittyluvr400
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

Having finally figured out how to add a picture, I'll add to this previous thread from me. My dreaded coreopsis. Five total. Deadheading everyday to keep the 'look'.

They were recently removed, and I learned a lot from that pretty nightmare. Some said don't bother deadheading, but it dulled the view due to letting the dead stay on til it wanted to fall off. If I am going to have a plant, I must take care of it. This is actually two plants. The one with the yellow flowers behind the mailbox.
Gorgeous - definitely. Maintenance - everyday deadheading, 20+ per plant a day. Miss one day and twice as many. A bumble bee magnet...which I learned to work with. By August it suddenly became a haven for yellow jackets, wasps and hornets. It was getting pretty scary and became my nightmare. I cut them down a few days ago, and am waiting to remove the roots so I can give them to my neighbor.
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KeyWee
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Location: West Kentucky

I think they look great ~ but then I have learned to accept plants in ALL their stages or go crazy. If you would see my yard you would know why ~ I have a thousand plants, so learning to accept their phases is a must (or buy plastic flowers:)))

And the bees? Bonus!! I know they are a bit scary but we NEED them badly ~ especially now with colony collapse and pesticides.

You know there are many kinds of gardening styles, from controlled to chaos. I prefer my garden to look like it just "happened" as in nature, and that takes a LOT of the pressure off. You can see some of my pictures on FB (Kelly KeyWee Canfield). Maybe if you take a look at my "chaos" you won't be so worried ~ your gardens are the soul of neatness next to mine!!

Kittyluvr400
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Joined: Thu May 19, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: South central Long Island, NY. Zone 7

I would love to see your chaos Kelly. And when I finally figure out how to get the pics in my phone to transfer to the iPad, I would love for others to see my first garden....that I worked so hard on all summer. Ahem....the hottest summer ever! (I despise the heat, go figure) I love to see others gardens for ideas. Been so busy this summer that I haven't had a chance to look at the photos on this site. All I can say about my garden is although I was unable to build it myself....the plants were my choices, all picked out by me. I think I have 80 or so plants and I actually deadheaded every flowering plant and watered each plant individually every single day. It helps when you like the view. My garden is likely considered a cottage type garden. Textures and foliage with color thrown in. Next year more colorful foliage and simple potted annuals...marigolds and begonias. I want my foliage to be the main color, for the obvious deadheading reasons. Although, hitting the potted begonias with the jet of my 'hose sprayer' was a simply fabulous idea...as I had no patience waiting for the wind to carry those faded blooms away....and how hard is it to deadhead a marigold!?

Lots of transplants the last few days. Fixing mistakes from spring 2016. Many leaving the bed and brought to the shady yard. I trusted the landscaper when he said no, no, no...put it here. He was right on some things, but waaaaay wrong on most of the others, and to pay him to move them really irks me. I did it myself. My body pays the price, but my pride wins. So what's a little physical therapy now and then?

47 bulbs delivered and will be planting them in baskets with some spring cellophane lining the pots so the dirt doesn't ooze out. Hoping this works....bulbs in mostly 8 inch high baskets and then throw them in my shed for the winter. My area can easily hit 0-10 degrees over the winter. Fearful of them not making it through the winter. Live and learn....we'll see.

Winter project.....paint all my flower pots. Stencils and such. I got all my pots from....anyplace I ran into one.
Marigold seedlings come Feb. Try to have some fun.
I do admit I love a mean snowstorm. But pricey to clean up. Take the good with the bad.

What can I say....I am very proud of the first year of my new garden/hobby...and I apologize for my long winded posts and thank you to those who were helpful in reading them and passing on much needed advice.

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KeyWee
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Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:50 pm
Location: West Kentucky

I may be alone here, but I love the "long-winded" posts and I would rather read those any day than looking at "shared" items that were not authored by the poster.
I think you have done a great job this year and should look forward to many more years of the same. The "live and learn" thing is never going to end. Since I have been gardening in some form for over 30 years, I can tell you that your mistakes are your best friends!
It sounds like you have many good projects lined up for the winter and that is a great thing. Even though our winters are short (Nov-Mar) and I do like a decent snowstorm too, I love the hot weather and always mourn the loss of the hummingbirds, which should be any day now, boo.
I spent all day yesterday on fall clean up, planting a few on-sale shrubs and ferns, and adding a few bulbs here and there. So I hear ya about the body aches. I do all my own gardening work, including mowing, planting, moving, and at 62, I think it keeps me pretty fit!



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