Really Big (and a little weird) Coreopsis

We're all familiar with Coreopsis in one form or another. Tickseed (C. lanceolata), Stiff Coreopsis (C. palmata) and Tall Coreopsis (C. tripteris) fill Ohio landscapes with bursts of sunshine throughout the summer. In Mississippi C. auriculata, C. major and Calliopsis (C. tinctoria) turn roadsides into summer flower beds (see my article "Garden Variety Roadside Weeds".) And of course gardeners always have a place for a coreopsis or two in the gardens.

In the California, species such as Douglas's Coreopsis (C. douglasii), Stillman's Coreopsis (C. stillmanii), California Coreopsis (C. californica) and Bigelow's Coreopsis (C. bigelovii) all begin blooming as early as late winter. Two March-blooming species are exceptionally eye-catching, not just for their yellow explosions of blossoms, but for their size. These are Giant Coreopsis (C. gigantea) and Sea Dahlia (C. maritima), and they are really big Coreopsis. And there's a weirdness about them as well because, let's face it, wildflowers don't usually bring to mind trees ... not that there aren't wildflowers that blossom on trees, there are, but these are Coreopsis we're talking about here.

As it's name indicates, Giant Coreopsis is just that; giant. A tree, in fact. With familiar yellow flowers and foliage that bring to mind other, smaller Coreopsis, all seems right with the universe. But then you notice the green feathery foliage and clusters of familiar yellow flowers are bunched atop a woody trunk and that, as weird as it seems beneath all that familiar Coreopsis, kind of resembles a palm tree, and it all gets weirder. And the weirdness takes on a kind of critical mass when you find yourself admiring a Coreopsis that's more than six feet tall.

Maybe it's just me.

Growing on bluffs and in coastal dunes from San Luis Obispo County, CA. south, Giant Coreopsis often gets no taller than a few feet, but can reach as high as ten feet. The flowers - about 3" across - are born atop leafless stalks, and bloom in clusters. The leaves, repeatedly pinnately divided, are thread-like. The thick woody trunk has few if any branches. It is a showy plant, looks great in a garden and I still can't used to it being a Coreopsis. It's also known as Giant Sea Dahlia.

It's cousin, Sea Dahlia, is not woody, and comes across more as a showy and imposing mound of feathery green foliage and yellow flowers than a tree. Still, is can be a pretty sizeable shrub, and is only slightly less weird than Giant Coreopsis where my idea of what a Coreopsis is is concerned.

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