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FIRST IMPRESSIONS:   Coreopsis rosea is a fine textured mounding perennial with many slender upright stems.  The stems are clothed in pairs of bright green thread-like leaves.  In summer plants bear multitudes of small yellow-centered pink daisies.  Plants prefer a sunny site with consistently moist but well drained soil. In an appropriate setting this rhizomatous perennial will mature into a 1’ tall beefy clump.

HABITAT & HARDINESS:  Coreopsis rosea is native to the coastal plain in the northeastern U. S. from Massachusetts and Rhode Island to southeastern New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.  Disjunct populations occur in Nova Scotia, South Carolina and Georgia.

Habitats include pine barrens, moist open woods, shores of lakes, rivers or ponds and damp sandy depressions.  This species generally occurs in pioneer habitats with changing water levels, low fertility, lack of surface leaf litter and few competing plants.

Plants are hardy from USDA Zones 3-8.

PLANT DESCRIPTION:   Coreopsis rosea is a spreading or mounding perennial wildflower.  This is a rhizomatous species that forms large dense clumps that expand into colonies.  

Leaves are opposite and very narrow.  The blades have been described as threadlike or grass-like.  Each blade has a pointed tip, a smooth edge and no stalk or petiole.  This fine textured foliage gives plants a quality of airiness.    

From mid to late summer until early autumn plants bear a profusion of ½” rosy pink flowers.  Each of the daisy-like blossom consists of slender pink ray florets surrounding a yellow cluster of disk florets.  Clusters of dark achene seed form after blooming.

This plant is generally 1’ tall with a 2-3’ spread.

CULTURAL & MAINTENANCE NEEDS:  Coreopsis rosea is easy to grow in sunny mesic sites.  Plants require a well-drained soil that is consistently moist.  This species is not drought tolerant.

Deadheading of spent flowers promotes a fall rebloom and prevents unwanted seedling volunteers.   Most gardeners simply shear the entire plant in late summer to deadhead and neaten matted growth at the same time.

Plants spread in garden situations by rhizomes and self-seeding and may be too aggressive for small manicured beds.

This species is relatively pest free and is also unpalatable to deer and other herbivores.

LANDSCAPE USES:  This is a good choice for a Groundcover in a Meadow or Wildlife Garden. Plants are also used as Accents or as part of a Grouping or Mass Planting.  Coreopsis rosea has Showy Blooms and is appropriate for Cottage Gardens, Deer Resistant Plantings, Rock Gardens, Water-wise Landscapes, Low Maintenance Plantings and Perennial Borders.

COMPANION & UNDERSTUDY PLANTS:  Try pairing Coreopsis rosea with Asclepias verticillata, Baptisia tinctoria, Eupatorium maculatum, Eupatorium hyssopifolium, Monarda punctata or Rhexia virginica.

Coreopsis verticillata is very similar in appearance and would be a suitable substitute in sunny well drained sites.

TRIVIA:  Coreopsis rosea has very similar foliage and growth habit to that of Coreopsis verticillata.   Culturally the two are very different.  Coreopsis verticillata is very tolerant of heat and drought and Coreopsis rosea requires cooler temperatures and moist soils.    

Coreopsis rosea is a rare plant in the wild.  In cultivation it is readily propagated and has become a parent of several pink or pinkish flowering cultivars or hybrids.