Coreopsis Early Sunrise (Tickseed)

This is a perennial that is near and dear to my heart.  When I first started selling plants at the farmers market it was definately my 'bread and butter' plant.   The thing I love about this plant (and is a big selling point with my customers) is the fact that you can keep this perennial blooming all season long.  Since perennials typically have specific and sometimes short blooming season, this is a big plus. 

The secret to keep it blooming is to cut the spent flower stems fairly deep - don't let them go to seed heads.  If you do this the plant will continue to use it's energy to reproduce and send up new flowers - if you don't cut the spent flower heads off the plant will use that energy to set seed heads.  A word of caution if you want new plants (and trust me you do, the typical life spand of a plant is 3 years) don't cut the spent flowers off in the fall, let those go to seed.  This will give you new plants that will shoot up the following spring.

There are a number of different varieties of Coreopsis - my favorite is Early Sunrise because it has a double bloom that makes a very showy plant.