Coreopsis auriculata is a stoloniferous, short-lived, herbaceous perennial that grows 12-18" tall clumps and in dense, bushy, slowly-spreading clusters—native to southeastern U.S. open woods from Virginia to Florida and Mississippi. The leaves are ovate to elliptic, hairy, petioled, and deep green. This plant has small lateral lobes at the base of each leaf, which resemble mouse ears, hence the common name mouse ear coreopsis. Daisy-like flowers have eight yellow rays around a yellow disk in the middle. It blooms mainly from April to June on upright flower stalks that reach 18". If you deadhead spent flowers regularly, it may continue throughout the summer and into the fall. Usually, plants stop blooming in the middle of summer, then rebloom after temperatures cool off in the fall.
The plant grows well in medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun. This species can handle humidity and some dry conditions, but isn't as drought tolerant as some other Coreopsis species. Keeping spent flower stalks deadheaded can be tedious for an extensive planting, but it tends to encourage more blooms. Plants may be sheared mid-summer to promote a fall rebloom and remove any sprawling or unkempt foliage. In optimum growing conditions, this stoloniferous perennial will slowly spread in the garden over time to form an attractive planting, but the spread is easy to check. Clumps may be divided in spring.
