Ny favorite is Jethro Tull. Moonbbeam is a landscaper' go-to around here.s

I like the softer color better of Moonbeam, but Zagreb is a workhorse in my garden. Bolder color, long, long bloom time.

I like big bang redshift. This was the 2nd year for mine and they did great. Easy care, lots of pretty blooms. In fact, it is still blooming now.

I too have moonbeam and Zagreb. They are both workhorses for me.

I much prefer moonbeam as it is a beautiful yellow, whereas Zagreb is very harsh imo.

Zagreb blooms first for me, and moonbeam blooms later, up until frost.

Here is moonbeam.....

Zagreb....

Hi BlueHaven,

If you're looking for the "old fashioned" type of Coreopsis with the large flowers, you want to get C. grandiflora or C. lanceolata. The two you have now and the two recommended, 'Moonbeam' and 'Zagreb', are "threadleaf" types, and have become very popular in the last 15 to 20 years.

One of my favorite C. grandiflora is 'Baby Sun', which I love because of the red spots on each petal. This one (in 2012) was started from winter sown seed in 2010. [Click on the pics for the captions and dates.]
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Another large flowered Coreopsis many people often miss is C. auriculata 'Nana'. It blooms earlier than the others, is shorter than most of the others, and is more "golden-orangey" than the taller "yellow" ones.

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Both of those varieties will continue to bloom a long time with regular deadheading.

If it's yellow you're looking for, Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' is another possibility, it's a reliably hardy (to zone 4) Black Eyed Susan. Blooms later than the Coreopsis, but also blooms for a long time with deadheading, and will often bloom right up to a hard freeze (Denver!)

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There are also a lot of varieties of Rudbeckia hirta in varying shades of yellow, gold, and with brown markings on the petals of some of them. The hirtas aren't reliably hardy here in zone 5, but they just might keep going and going and going for you down south on the Gulf! Just don't know for sure! (But they're very easy to start from seed if you need to replace them, and grow from seed and bloom in the same year!) This is R. h. 'Rustic Colors' on November 9 in 2008, and the second pic is November 16, after I had cleaned up the leaves. Everything else was already frozen!

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If you want more of the threadleaf type Coreopsis in yellow, the two recommended above are nice "old standbys," and, I agree, 'Moonbeam' is the prettier of the two. (Don't have a pic--I don't grow the threadleaf ones!)

Fall is a good time to plant perennials, and anything that's hardy for your zone should do fine if you put them in now.

Happy gardening,
Skybird

P.S. Almost forgot this! I agree that 'Jethro Tull' is very cool!

This post was edited by skybird on Tue, Nov 4, 14 at 3:35

Thanks all for your suggestions. Your plants look so beautiful that I can not wait to plant a few of them in my garden.

C. 'Golden Gain' is a threadleaf type with overall larger flowers (1 1/2") than the other threadleaf coreopsis that I have grown (Zagreb, Heaven's Gate, and Moonbeam.) It's a bit taller as well, growing to about 1 1/2' - 2' in my garden. The flowers are a relatively bright yellow color without orange and are held above the foliage. The petals are a bit narrower than on Mercury Rising.

Any of the Big Bang coreopsis have nice big flowers and unique color options. I also discovered the Jethro Tull this past season--talk about a pretty one! They should survive the winter in Houston just fine, but be aware of the moisture level. I would still mulch to retain moisture and if you go a month without it, I would give them some water. I'm also thinking you will want to cut them back in late December or early January to allow for dormancy before they spring back to life in March/April. I LOVE these wildflowers! Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Coreopsis varieties you might want to look at