Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 7, 2026 Saugus Gardens in the Summer Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener A mong the most long-lasting flowering perennials are the tickseeds, members of the composite family (Asteraceae). While the name tickseed may conjure up unappealing images, this plant does not have anything to do with actual ticks except that someone thought the seed was somewhat shaped like either a tick or bedbug and the name stuck. While some of the tickseed species come from South and CenGerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 J& • Reliable Mowing Service • Spring & Fall Cleanups • Mulch & Edging • Sod or Seed Lawns • Shrub Planting & Trimming • Water & Sewer Repairs Joe Pierotti, Jr. The ‘Li’l Bang Candy Stripes’ tickseeds in Dee LeMay’s garden have colorful red and pale yellow petals and keep producing flowers during summer through most of the fall. (Photo courtesy of Dee LeMay) from June until October in our climate. New flower heads are produced very quickly, so that they may need deadheading every few days. While this is not very difficult, often not requiring any tools other than fingernails, it can be time-consuming. I think of it as “fidget maintenance” in that you can just sit next to them and pick or snip off the faded flowers while thinking S LANDSCAPE & MASONRY CO. Masonry - Asphalt • Brick or Block Steps • Brick or Block Walls • Concrete or Brick Paver Patios & Walkways • Brick Re-Pointing • Asphalt Paving www.JandSlandscape-masonry.com • Senior Discount • Free Estimates • Licensed & Insured 617-389-1490 Designing and Constructing Ideas that are “Grounds for Success” Landscaping of other things. It doesn’t seem to matter much if you just snap off the flower head or carefully snip back to just above the top set of leaves. As with other members of the composite family (daisies, sunflowers, etc.), what most people think of as a flower is actually a head of flowers, the “center” having pistils and stamens but no petals, while an outer border contains “ray florets” with a single petal each. The flower colors can be very variable and include red, pink, white, yellow, orange and combinations of those colors. There are about 80 species in the tickseed (Coreopsis) genus, although there are several species that were recently reclassified in other genera that had been considered part of this genus. One example is threadleaf tickseed (Anacis verticillata, formerly Coreopsis verticillata), which has a scattered range from Quebec to Georgia, and which has long been cultivated in gardens. The award-winning variety ‘Moonbeam’ (Anacis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’) is the best known, with pale yellow flowers, usually growing two feet tall. Another is the cultivar ‘Zagreb’, named for the capital of Croatia, which has bright lemon-yellow flowers on a cloud of bright green airy leaves. As one of the most compact, growing only about a foot tall, ‘Zagreb’ is a great companion for other petral America, most of the ones we find available here originated in North America, mostly central U.S. A few have wild ranges up into Canada. Tickseeds have become very popular with breeders in recent years, leading to new hybrids and named varieties. These are great plants for sunny locations, but don’t tend to bloom as well in shade. A big selling point of tickseeds in general is that most varieties bloom for several months of the summer. If the faded flowers are removed, they often bloom rennials in the garden, as it can spread out around them, and the flower color goes well with almost any other flower color imaginable. The very narrow leaves in this species give these plants a fine delicate texture in the garden, which can contrast with large blossoms and bolder foliage planted nearby. A few tickseeds grow wild in Massachusetts, but they are not common. The pink flowering tickseed (Coreopsis rosea) has pastel pink or occasionally white ray florets. Unlike most others in this genus, pink tickseed prefers moist soils and in the wild is often found at edges of swamps or pond margins and is less drought tolerant than most other species. The popular variety ‘American Dream’ has pink ray flowers with lemon yellow disk florets. Longtime plant breeder Darrell Probst from Hubbardston, Mass., produced the “Big Bang” series of coreopsis in a variety of colors, then introduced the more compact “Li’l Bang” series. Darwin Perennials produced the “UpTick” series, another line of popular tickseeds. These are all widely available in nurseries, and most have combinations of red and yellow in the ray florets. Large-flowered tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) is native to Canada and much of eastern U.S. The flowers are yellow, with the tips of the ray florets somewhat scalloped in shape. They are among the tallest tickseeds also, often two feet tall when in bloom and sometimes up to three feet tall. Many hybrids have mouseeared tickseed (Coreopsis auriculata) in their background. The dwarf variety ‘Nana’ is sometimes used as a ground cover. Because of the nectar and long bloom period, many butterflies, bees and other pollinators are attracted to the various tickseed species. Deer generally do not eat it, but rabbits and groundhogs may sometimes eat it if other more tasty plants are not available. Given the low rain levels of most of this summer, the drought tolerance exhibited by many tickseed species is a definite asset.
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