Grow and Care for Crownbeard

Grow crownbeard in sun to part shade, and match water to the kind you bought. Verbesina is the genus name.

Give it sun to part shade, and match water to the kind you bought

Give it sun for most of the day, or light shade at the woodland edge, and soil that drains after a rain. [1] Water a new plant until it is rooted. After that, match water to the kind: keep wingstem on moist ground, let frostweed take a drier woodland edge, and skip extra water on established yellow crownbeard or cowpen daisy. [2] wingstem is the usual eastern yellow perennial. frostweed wants a woodland edge. cowpen daisy is the dry annual. If you are still choosing a kind, see Types of Crownbeard.

1. Plant in sun or light shade so the stems stay upright and the heads open.
2. Use the native soil if water moves through it. Do not add a rich compost backfill that stays wet.
3. Water to settle a new plant, then soak until it is rooted. After that, follow the kind, not a weekly calendar.

Plant in spring or fall, at the same depth as the pot

Spring or fall is the usual window for a potted perennial. Set the crown at the same depth as in the pot. Cowpen daisy is an annual you start from seed, not from a returning clump.

1. Dig a hole as deep as the pot and a little wider. Set the crown even with the soil. Do not bury the winged stems.
2. Backfill with the soil you dug. Do not pack compost against the crown.
3. Space clumps 2 to 3 feet apart so air can move through the stems.
4. Water once to settle. Then follow the first-year soak, not a daily sprinkle.

Cut the stems in late winter

Crownbeard dies back after frost. Cut the brown stems in late winter, before new growth. On frostweed, wait until after the first hard freeze if you want the ice ribbons at the stem base. [3]

1. Leave frostweed standing through the first freeze if you want the ice display. Then cut.
2. In late winter, cut the old stems to a few inches. New shoots come from the crown.
3. If frostweed flops before bloom, cut the stems about in half in early June. Then still cut the dead stems in late winter.
4. Deadhead after bloom if you do not want a thicket of seedlings. Birds eat the seed if you leave the heads.

Grow more from seed or by dividing a clump

Perennial kinds come from fall-sown seed or from a winter division. Cowpen daisy sprouts from a scatter on bare ground, with no cold wait. [4]

1. For wingstem, frostweed, or yellow crownbeard, sow in fall, or keep the seed cold and moist for about 30 to 60 days before a spring sow. Press it onto the surface. Do not bury it deep.
2. For cowpen daisy, scatter seed on disturbed ground after frost. Walk away. Thin the carpet if it crowds the bed.
3. Divide a perennial clump in winter while it is dormant. Replant the pieces at the same depth, and water once to settle.

Not ice plant — and not ironweed or a sunflower

Frostweed is also sold as iceplant or iceweed, but it is a tall native, not a succulent carpet. Ice plant in the dry-garden trade is usually Delosperma — see How to Grow Ice Plant if that is the mat on the tag. wingstem is also called yellow ironweed, but purple ironweed is Vernonia — see How to Grow Ironweed. The yellow heads can look like a sunflower. True sunflowers are Helianthus — see How to Grow Sunflowers if that is the annual on the tag. yellow crownbeard has opposite leaves. frostweed has alternate leaves and white heads. cowpen daisy has no stem wings.

If an established clump yellows or collapses, check a puddled crown and a dry bank on wingstem first. Wet soil, not a skipped soak, is the usual cause on the dry kinds.