On a visit to a local nursery, I bought an already established coreopsis plant. The plant was so well established it had more dried up flowers than new blooms. No problem, I thought, those are just free seeds for future planting. I took it home and proceeded to deadhead the new find.
For those unfamiliar with deadheading, it’s the process of cutting off old blooms so that new shoots and flowers will emerge in its place. Here’s a picture of new shoots emerging after just 1 day. It’s now been about 3 days and I’m starting to see new flower buds.
Side note: coreopsis, like cosmos, loves poor soil. It’s a good choice for your rocky or less fertile areas.