Coreopsis verticillata 'Route 66' PP20609
Cruizin' Series
Red becomes the dominant flower color of 'Route 66' PP20609 in cool weather.
Common Name: Threadleaf Coreopsis
This colorful tickseed, discovered at Bauer’s Forever Flowers in northwestern Pennsylvania, zone 5a, has overwintered very well since 2005 in the Bauer’s garden. It comes back so vigorously each year, they think it should be hardy to zone 4, but we’ll list it as a zone 5 just to be sure.
‘Route 66’ is a verticillata type of Coreopsis, so it has green, threadleaf foliage with branched stems and an upright habit to about two feet tall. From midsummer into mid-fall in zone 5, this plant produces large 2in yellow flowers with a red eye. The red pigment bleeds out onto the petals, becoming the dominant color in fall. Each flower has a slightly different pattern of yellow and red pigments.
Coreopsis is one of the easiest perennials to maintain and is a good choice for beginners. It compliments nearly every other plant in the garden. The verticillata species is particularly long-lived, has a longer flowering time, and demonstrates better drought tolerance than others in the genus.
