Pink Tickseed

Coreopsis rosea

Pink tickseed is the rare exception in a genus dominated by yellows. The flowers are a soft, genuine rose-pink with a yellow center, small and numerous on fine-leaved, thread-like foliage that creates an airy, delicate texture unlike any other native perennial. The pink-and-yellow combination is warm and pleasing, a natural pair with native grasses and other fine-textured plants at the front of a moist border. A coastal plain species naturally found in wet, peaty soils, pink tickseed handles moist conditions that most coreopsis species reject. It spreads gently by rhizome to form a colony over time, weaving between companion plants without crowding them. A genuinely uncommon color in native plants -- the pink is real, not just a wash of lavender.