1/2-pint plug
Exposure: Sun-partial
Soil: Dry-medium
Height: 2'
Bloom: June-July
Notable features: Matures to a height of just 2 feet. It prefers medium to dry soil conditions and sets striking yellow flowers for 3-4 weeks, usually in June and July. It is tolerant of poor soils and drought and is deer resistant. Spreads by rhizomes, looks nice with prairie dropseed grass, butterfly milkweed, and New Jersey Tea. Loved by pollinators!
Attracts: The nectar and pollen of the flowerheads attract many kinds of insects because of their abundance and accessibility. These floral visitors include digger bees (Melissodes spp.), cuckoo bees (Epeolus spp., Nomada spp.), leaf-cutting bees (Megachile spp.), Halictid bees (including green metallic bees), dagger bees (Calliopsis spp.,Heterosarus spp.), Sphecid wasps and other wasps, Syrphid flies (Eristalis spp. and others), bee flies (Exoprosopa spp. and others), thick-headed flies (Conopidae), Tachinid flies, bottle flies (Lucilia spp.), Muscid flies, butterflies, skippers, moths, and beetles. A digger bee, Melissodes coreopsis, is an oligolege (specialist pollinator) of Coreopsis spp. Some insects feed on the plant juices, flowerheads, and other parts of Prairie Coreopsis and other Coreopsis spp. These species include the Red-spotted Aster Mirid (Polymerus basalis), an aphid (Uroleucon reynoldense), the Ragweed Leaf Beetle (Calligrapha bidenticola) and Coreopsis Leaf Beetle (Calligrapha californica coreopsivora), and larvae of such moths as the Dimorphic Gray (Tornos scolopacinarius), Wavy-lined Emerald (Synchlora aerata), and Common Tan Wave (Pleuroprucha insulsaria). The larvae of the latter two moths feed on the flowerheads.
