Coreopsis rosea Sweet Dreams
USPP #12,720, CPBR #1670
"Variegated Pink Tickseed"

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BENEFITS
Stunning bicolored flowers. Larger flower than the species. Drought tolerant.

BLOOM SEASON & HABIT
'Sweet Dreams' features stunning bicolored flowers. Flower petals are white-tipped with a dark raspberry center. Flowers bloom in late spring to midsummer atop plants with fine, needle-like foliage. As summer progresses, under high light and temperatures, the raspberry color develops further out on the ray petals, developing a slowly changing color pattern. Clumps spread rapidly to form a groundcover.

LOCATION
Full sun. USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 8; AHS Heat Zones 12 to 1. See our Growing Zones page to reference growing zones in your area.

USE
Place in front or middle of beds or borders. Also nice in containers. Combines nicely with Purple Coneflower (Echinacea), Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) or in front of Shrubs and Ornamental Grasses.

SIZE
18" tall by 24" wide. Use 4 plants per square yard.

CULTURE
Prefers average well-drained soils. Drought tolerant once established. Place plants ½" to 1" deeper than the soil level in the container. This aids in the development of basal branches, which aids overwintering. A light cutback after flowering promotes re-flowering into early fall and also helps promote basal branching. Also see our General Planting Tips for more information.

Meet the Breeder
Mark Leonard is a nurseryman who owns a retail nursery called the Flower Mill near Sacramento, California.
In 1996, amongst a bed of a Coreopsis rosea (also known as "Pink Tickseed") he spotted an unusual flower, twice the size of the other Coreopsis, with white-tipped petals and a dark raspberry colored eye. Amazingly, it was just a single stem growing on an otherwise ordinary Coreopsis rosea.

From this single shoot he started to take cuttings which proved to be stable and stocks were built up.

After extensive trials, an agreement was reached with Blooms of Bressingham North America to propagate and distribute Coreopsis 'Sweet Dreams'. Blooms of Bressingham Ltd, UK also were offered plants for trialing in October 2000. Such has been the interest in this plant that an evaluation and a commercial crop were undertaken at the same time and early indications are that the plant is living up to expectations under UK conditions.

Coreopsis means "bug-like." The shape of the seed on this dependable, carefree garden perennial resembles a tick, thus the common name "Tickseed."

Worldwide Promotion!
'Sweet Dreams' is being promoted worldwide after being featured at the 2002 Chelsea Flower Show. Click here for more information and where to buy this exciting new perennial from Blooms of Bressingham.