The Colorful Low-Maintenance Perennial That Will Thrive In Your Poor & Rocky Soil

As a gardener, it can be extremely frustrating to deal with poor and rocky soil because few plants will thrive under these difficult conditions. This means you'll need to search far and wide to find species that don't mind this type of growing environment, especially if you want to fill your landscape with color but don't have a lot of time to tend to the plants. Just for you, we've found a colorful low-maintenance perennial flowering plant that's going to love your poor and rocky soil. This plant is commonly known as tickseed (Coreopsis spp.) and there are quite a few species in this genus that will thrive in these conditions. In fact, these are some of the best plants to grow in shallow soil. 

Greater tickseed (Coreopsis major) is a native wildflower that commonly grows on sandy or rocky slopes and along roadsides around the southeastern to mid-eastern U.S. As long as you're in USDA zones 5 through 9, it's perfectly adapted to flourish in your less-than-ideal growing conditions in. In fact, if grown in fertile soil, it sprawls instead of forming a nice upright clump with pretty yellow flowers in summer. Better still, it's the ultimate low-maintenance plant because all it really needs from you is to divide it every two to three years. This perennial will grow to a height of 4 feet with a limited spread of 2 feet, making it ideal as a specimen or mass-planted as an attractive border in a drought-tolerant garden. 

For some outstanding color, you might want to give tall tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris) a try. It will also do well in poor, rocky soil, and the cheery flowers look somewhat similar to those of black-eyed Susan, with their yellow petals and dark brown centers. Tall tickseed thrives in zones 3 through 8 and can grow to a height of 9 feet with a spread of around 8 feet. This means it might need staking to stop the tall stems from falling over. Birds and pollinators adore this plant, so it's definitely worth considering.

For a more compact species that only grows to a height of 3 feet with a spread of 2 feet, threadleaf tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata), might be a good option. It's happy to grow in zones 3 through 9, and will absolutely love your poor, arid soil, making it a beautiful perennial for your sunny rock garden. For some dramatic color, you may also want to add lanceleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) to your list. It has similarly pretty yellow flowers, but these have ruffled petals with yellow centers surrounded by a splash of orange. This little stunner is happy in zones 4 through 9, and will reach a height of 3 feet with a width of 2 feet. As a bonus, you'll find that this wildflower is an easy-to-propagate perennial for beginner gardeners.