# Plant People: Coriopsis (sp): Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202 "2007-09-23T15:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/1 "2007-09-23T15:27:40Z")
I have a nifty coriopsis plant that did well on my deck in a 1 gal. plastic pot. I’m told I shouldn’t leave it in the pot or it’ll croak over the winter. Question: can I trim it down and leave it in my “slightly heated” basement? It probably stays in the low-30s to the mid-40s in there during the winter. If I do this, do I need to do anything to it over the winter? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/2 "2007-09-23T15:36:51Z")
It may die in either instance. The best thing to do is bury the pot in the ground or bury the roots in the earth for winter. Don’t do this at the house drip line. Ice over plants kills them. You can also try surrounding them with leaves held in place for insulation. Basements are not below freezing so the plants grow some, and without light they die. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/3 "2007-09-23T16:17:05Z")
That makes sense. I’ll pick a spot and stick 'er in the ground. Thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/4 "2007-09-23T23:19:11Z")
Total hijack, but I just have to say that I can never hear “coreopsis” without thinking of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. “Doctor Mitty! Coreopsis has set in! Will you take over?” ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/5 "2007-09-23T23:35:12Z")
Which coreopsis is it, and is it in the original pot you bought it in? And where are you? If it’s in the pot you bought it in, often, the soiless mix used will retain a lot of water, and coreopsis don’t like to be too wet over winter, so the chances of rot are high. Some coreopsis hybrids, like "Limerock Ruby’, are gorgeous, but didn’t prove to be as winter-hardy here in Zone 7 as originally thought. They croaked even in the ground, planted early. If it’s in a overly moisture retentive soilless mix, chances are it will not do so well either in the house or buried in the pot in the ground. If it’s listed as winter-hardy in your area, best bet is to get it out of the pot and planted in real soil, so the roots will continue to grow, and the plant will come up better in the spring. Hope that’s clear… elelle, who answers plant ?? all day for a living, still on the job here… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/6 "2007-09-23T23:49:54Z")
Kalhoun while searching for something I ran across this thread from you. > **[Grrdening Folk: What should I use to create different levels?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414008)** > > I’m replacing my flower boxes with colorful pots along the side of my house. I want many different colors, shapes, and sizes. I also want to vary the height of the pots. This area will be blacktop underneath and vinyl siding along the house. What... Did you ever post pictures? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/7 "2007-09-23T23:55:42Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Kalhoun while searching for something I ran across this thread from you. > **[Grrdening Folk: What should I use to create different levels?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=414008)** > > I’m replacing my flower boxes with colorful pots along the side of my house. I want many different colors, shapes, and sizes. I also want to vary the height of the pots. This area will be blacktop underneath and vinyl siding along the house. What... Did you ever post pictures? [/QUOTE] You know, I never did. I wasn’t completely in love with this year’s garden and I never did get the levels to work on the driveway. I put them all on my deck, and most people thought it looked pretty good, but the plants themselves were in a constant state of good/garbage. I’ll look around and see if I snapped any by accident. Then my evil job kicked in and I barely had time to water them, so they went downhill fast. I emptied most of my pots today (still have a few begonias and some impatiens). Here was my favorite group (coreopsis in the middle): [PC150014 | Karlen Sanberg | Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlen/573747975/in/set-72157600406236724/) Gotta love the coffee cups!!! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/8 "2007-09-24T01:38:44Z")
You got the coffee cups at Walmart didn’t you. I see your nicotina plant worked out for you. It’s not a big deal, I just wondered if I’d missed you posting the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/9 "2007-09-24T01:41:27Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] You got the coffee cups at Walmart didn’t you. I see your nicotina plant worked out for you. [/QUOTE] Yes, I did. Those coffee cups are just too damn cute. All my friends want to steal them. The nicotina not only worked out for me, but when it started crappin’ out on me, i trimmed it back and I got a new stem with 5 or 6 blooms on it. I hope I can find more of them for next year. They made sitting on the deck a perfumed joy this year. My begonias were gorgeous this year, as were my lillies. The verbena sucked. The astilbe sucked. And the one on the left of that picture (i forget the name) sucked after my sil trimmed it back and it never bloomed again. And my marigolds were beeeeautiful!!! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plant-people-coriopsis-sp-help/420202/10 "2007-09-24T03:01:37Z")
I’d say the plant is may a type of Blazing Star (Liatris). This year the drought was stressing my plants, and then three weeks of water sent many to their death. The verbena all gave up during the rains, and they are not coming back. My cosmos are reaching the 7.5 foot high mark. I have to stop using the seed from that supplier, because the variation of their seed from the original stock is to great for me. They don’t flower soon enough, because they try to grow taller than the variety’s 4 foot norm. The seeds from other sources in the same beds have flowered for over a month, and are about 4.5 feet high. This particular seed produced plants around 10 feet tall last year. I had an evening primrose reach 10 feet last year and it looked like a Christmas tree in form. My camera was useless by summer, so I couldn’t take a picture of all the nice plants last year. I had remarkable zinnias last year too. This years garden is sad in comparison.