There's no doubt about it - this can be a magnificent thing if grown in an open area, with no shade and planted among rocks on a slope. A few of the smaller agaves will provide the greenery all year. The stems, with age, become thick. I have seen this effectively used on freeway slopes. It has the feature that it is unwilling to burn unless really torched. In flower, those slopes came alive. In this area with its low rainfall, almost all in winter, I have never seen weediness occur, as it appears to do further north. Maybe in a wet year, all those seeds eventually spring forth. But, I've not seen that happen around here. Maybe the time between wet years is greater than the seed lifetime. Its native area is on the Channel Islands, which have similarly low rainfall. There, it is not very abundant. Andrew San Diego From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John Wickham This is one of the stranger California natives for the garden, and more spectacular for it. I'd avoided them because they reminded me of the smudge pots at the beginning of the movie "Alien". You know, the ones in the dark cavern that infected the guy and started the carnage? That's what the dry stump kind of looks like. Then, like the alien, that incredible foliage boils out the top with those bright yellow flowers. What an amazing plant. I had a friend who wouldn't plant one, because the feng shui in her garden would be compromised by having something dead-looking in it. Maybe pots are the way to go in that situation? --- On Wed, 12/15/10, Paul Licht <plicht@berkeley.edu> wrote: Coreopsis has been growing for decades here in the Garden. It seeds so readily that we tend to ignore the seeds and just dig up seedlings. Although it 'grows like a weed' for us, it is not necessarily a nice garden plant. It must be in well drained soil and then kept near bone dry in summer and probably doesn't tolerate frost. My wife objects to having a dead looking plant in the yard for much of the year. Paul Licht, Director University of California Botanical Garden 200 Centennial Drive Berkeley, CA 94720