Tickseed

Lanceleaf coreopsis is a native perennial of the eastern and central United States that produces a continuous supply of golden-yellow daisies on long, nearly leafless stems, 18 to 24 inches, from early summer well into autumn, one of the longest-blooming perennials available to the cutting garden. It thrives in poor, dry soil and full sun and asks almost nothing in return. Rich soil, as with cosmos, produces lush foliage at the expense of flowers.

Sow it in spring or fall, or plant it 12 to 18 inches apart, in any soil that drains; it is a plant of roadsides and dry meadows and sulks in rich, damp ground. Water only until it is established. Deadhead or cut everything that has finished and the plant keeps producing; shear the whole clump by half in midsummer if it tires. It self-sows readily and is short-lived, so let the volunteers stand. Divide in spring every few years.

Cut when the flowers are fully open; they last a week. The warm yellow pairs with late-summer purples and blues, scabious, nigella seed heads and echinacea cones. Bees, butterflies and hoverflies work the flowers all summer and goldfinches take the seed. Deer leave it alone. Hardy in zones 3 to 9.