Coreopsis stopped blooming

16 years ago

Hi

This seems peculiar. I picked up a mature clump of coreopsis, Baby Sun I believe - it's the shorter one that doesn't flop, from a place that sells them right out of the ground.

I've bought a lot of plants from there and they've always been just fine.

This was in June. The plant already had buds on it and proceeded to bloom. It was a little unhappy with the transplant, so I picked off a lot of the flowers at first. Then it flowered just fine for a couple of weeks, although each bloom was very short-lived.

Now it has stopped. There are dozens of buds on the plant, but they won't open. Not one. They aren't rotting off, either.

A friend also bought a clump on the same day. Hers is doing the same, so this can't be a cultivation issue. Mine gets about four-five hours of direct sun a day and bright/dappled shade thereafter, hers is in full sun pretty much all day.

Does anyone know why this plant would be taking a break?

Comments (2)

debgrow
16 years ago
Well, I don't know much about this particular plant, but I would guess that what's happening is due to the transplant. You took a plant that was just about to flower and you dug it out of the ground and transplanted it at the worst possible time (the best time to transplant is just after a plant is done blooming, not just before the buds open). It's probably using all its energy to get new roots established. I'd be surprised if these buds open at all - you might have to wait until next season.
diggingthedirt
16 years ago
This looks like a wonderful plant.

> A friend also bought a clump on the same day. Hers is doing the same, so this can't be a cultivation issue.

Well, it *can* be a cultivation issue, 2 plants behaving the same way does not rule that out, but debgrow is right, it is probably a timing issue. If you have your heart set on seeing some flowers this season, you *might* try removing about half of the buds; I'd just wait and see what happens, myself.

Paghat says it often re-blooms in fall, so you may yet be rewarded.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baby Sun at Paghat's Garden
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