Coreopsis zagreb

Posted by WiseAcre on Mar 23rd, 2008
2008
Mar 23

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HAPPY EASTER

 Hiding Easter Eggs in the yard this year is going to be simple. Just boil and toss! No messy dyes this year.  The snow refuses to melt and in fact has turned into a hard icy layer after a few ‘warm’ days. The returning cold allows the deer to walk on it without breaking through.  So there’s nowhere to hide the eggs except on the surface of the white “permafrosting’. Any color at all and you’d be able to see them from space. This year snow blindness will hide the eggs better than any nook or cranny in the yard.

So no Spring Photos today. They would just be another series of winter whie.

Coreopsis zagreb

 Coreopsis zagreb

So without a chance to take anything that resembles a Spring scene I’ve had to go back to the archives and pull out another old photo.

 This tickseed is a kissing cousin of the more familiar ‘Moonbeam’.  It has the same needle like leaves and the flowers are about the same size but just a shade deeper yellow.  The big difference is it’s a much more vigorous grower. The foliage is thicker and the blooms are more numerous. It spreads faster and the rhizomes grow thick enough to form a mat that will pull out of the ground easily when dividing and transplanting.  zagreb grows between a  one foot to two high and forms rounded mounds. In bloom the mound will be covered in flowers. This is a great plant in sandy well drained soils out in full sun. It is a aggressive spreader in moist soil. 

Coreopsis zagreb

I hope your Easter is as cheerful as this plant

12 Responses

  1. Bamapat Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 6:45 am

    Happy Easter Wiseacre, again, I wish to express how much I enjoy your blogs. Don’t always understand everything but I’m learning!

    We tried to hide and have the kids hunt eggs yesterday but they kept bringing in snowballs, stupid kids! Hey, they aren’t mine, mine would never hunt eggs in the cold, are you nuts!

    Bamapat,
    Snowballs are far better than the kids bringing in deer deposits and asking why the chocolate eggs aren’t wraped in foil this year.

  2. Mark Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Hi Wise acre,
    Sounds like you are still having fun, how is your tunneling going?
    One thing you have to be grateful for is that you dont have any mammoths knocking around as I suspect their wouldn’t be enough foil to go round.

    If it carries on for much longer you might end up on the discovery channel as one of those places on earth that can be seen from space.I bet drooling astronaughts looking at your chocolate eggs wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

    Happy Easter
    Mark

    Mark,
    All tunnels to the center of the manure pile have been abandoned until Spring decides to arrive. There have been unusually large footprints in the snow lately. I haven’t spotted mammoths but wouldn’t be surprised they’re making a comeback with this mini iceage we’re having.

    Space. The Final Frontier. The exploration between my ears continues.

  3. Teresa Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    I kind of like the idea of hunting for white eggs on white tundra. I’m sure some would be missed and that would make for some some surprising discoveries once the grass made it’s reappearance. Our guests at dinner today said their pastor told the congregation that Easter won’t be this early again till something
    like 2256. So maybe this will the last ‘white Easter’ for a LONG time.

    Teresa,
    We never know how old some of the stuff we find later is. The undyed eggs would have made nice mini time capsules marking this year. Best left unopened but at least you’d know what easter you’re remembering.

    2256? Ah good, then there’s a slim chance I won’t see another ‘white Easter’ in my lifetime.

  4. chigiy Binell Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    Nice pictures, even if they are from the archives.
    I hope the snow melts soon.

    chigiy,
    Thanks for stopping by. I’m afraid the photos don’t really do the plants justice. I’m actually afraid to wish. I’ve had too many come true.

  5. Benjamin Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    Hmmm. I really like my moonbeams, but maybe I’ll give zagreb a try. I don’t like any other coreopsis. I’m faithful to moonbeam. I don’t think I’ll cheat on it after all now.

    Benjamin,
    Give then a try. You don’t have to give up your moonbeams but I can almost promise you will after comparing them. As mentioned in a comment there are other threadleaf varieties with different colors. I’m going to give them a try.

  6. ByrningBunny Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm

    Happy Easter! I love these flowers and your picture of them. Our snow is so icy and hard that the dogs slip and slide all over the top of it! Soon though, our turn will come.

    ByrningBunny,
    I don’t know a soul who have tried them and disliked the Zagreb.
    The good side is we can get out and take an ‘easy’ walk. The dog is so happy to have her ‘boundries’ expanded beyond the driveway and just be able to RUN.

  7. Aiyana Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    Love the cheerful photos. Happy Easter, and GTS,
    Aiyana

    Aiyana,
    Hope you had a Happy Easter. I didn’t think of it before but I guess hiding eggs on the snow is better than amoung catcus :)

  8. jodi Says:
    March 24th, 2008 at 12:10 am

    This is such a fine plant, isn’t it? Tough, dependable, easy to share–I’m going to plant some in the clay down by the pond and see how it fares, because I have LOTS of it. Some of the other threadleafed coreopsis haven’t been as durable, though I have one with pink flowers and a gold-foliaged, red-flowered newbie bought last year that I mulched heavily as tags lie almost as much as politicians.
    The piles of snow and winter you’re having are beginning to alarm me a bit. Are you in the danger zone for flooding? As I explained to another blogging bud my geography is a bit vague about a lot of the US, but a map I saw on the NOAA website looks like danger for a lot of New England, the heartland, etc. So I’m worrying from up here on my high hill–where we dont’ get flooding, and if we did, everyone would be in trouble, being as how we’re quite a ways above sea level.
    Hope you had a lovely Easter despite the weather tantrums.

    jodi,
    I’ve planted some in clay but the area is nearly always wet and while the zagreb holds on it never thrives. Zagreb likes loose soil for it’s rhizomes. Heavy clay makes it hard for it to grab hold. I found the threadleaf coreopsis love mulch, it’s one of the reasons I like it. Anything that helps with the weeding is a giant plus.
    I live on a ridge, in a hole but still up above any flood threat. It’s going to be a year for floods around all the small rivers. The ice pack is thicker than ever this year. When it breaks up and forms jams/dams people along the rivers are going to see unusually high water levels. It’s going to be one of those all at once years. The snow melt and quick ice breakup is going to cause havoc.

  9. Apple Says:
    March 24th, 2008 at 6:47 am

    We skipped the Easter egg hunt this year, getting them all into snowsuits just seamed like too much trouble. I’m not sure which variety of tickseed I have but it doesn’t have the pretty feathery foliage that yours does.

    Apple,
    We can’t have everything. I don’t have any of the broadleaf types which have a charm of their own.

  10. Melanie Says:
    March 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

    Hooray for ‘Zagreb’, it’s the best Coreopsis around here (and I’ve tried many).

    My mom gave me my first piece of this plant. Silly me left it in the plastic supermarket bag next to my garage all winter. Come spring it was growing out of the bag so I planted it.

    Now when I divide it I use a fork to get under one end and just lift. It comes up like a piece of carpet. Take a serated knife and cut, cut, cut little pieces into nice squares or if I’m feeling strange, triangles. Pot those babies up and I’ve got a plant sale! Happy is me :-)

    Melanie,
    I couldn’t have said it better. It’s one plant I give away without a care.

  11. Bamapat Says:
    March 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am

    Request — look I must admit I like learning the scientific name for plants and flowers but I also wouldn’t mind the normal, everyday, ordinary name most folks use.

    It might help us dummies understand the flowers better…just an idea, any possibility???

    Thanks. My favorite flower remains the dandelion - its the one flower kids are allowed to pick as many as possible and it doesn’t stink that much either. Dandelion wine is really good too.

    Bamapat,
    In this case the common name is Tickseed. Unfortunately there are many varieties, some are broadleaf and others like this have needle like leaves. I hear more use of Coreopsis as the ‘common’ name but it still doesn’t address the difference between those two general types. Zagreb is needed to identify the specific plant and is usually used as the common name too.
    I’ve never tried Taraxacum officinale wine. It must be good because I sound drunk just trying to say it.

  12. Joy Says:
    March 27th, 2008 at 7:07 am

    Wiseacre .. I just saw your other site for business ? .. wow ! what a hoot !
    I must confess to having “Moonbeam” and loving the paler side of yellow .. but as you say a little less vigorous .. a matter of what flips your pancake I guess ?
    When will Spring ever come ??
    Joy
    PS .. I just know there is a squirrel some where making egg salad sandwiches with your supplies !

    Joy,
    Yep that’s my site to scare away business. It’s just another winter past-time never really meant for business.
    I too like the paler colored blooms but I’ll continue flipping pancakes with a squirrel.
    You know the old saying “Spring is just around the corner” - trouble is the corner is 7 miles down the road.

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