Make the most of Coreopsis, it never ends well.

A crazy flower arrangement.

Shades of Jackson Pollock.

Big blooms on spindly stems.

The developing bud is protected by shiny green bracts.

Eight pointed bracts surround the base. Eight tightly spaced bracts protect the bud.

Petals with conspicuous veins burst free of the tight packaging.

Sterile ray flowers surround disc flowers in the centre.

Green flower buds in the centre of the disc are the last to open.

• Red leaves fold back and a dark tube slides into view.

• Anthers are fused to form a tube.

• Pollen grains leak from the open tube rims.

• The flower’s stigma pushes out through tube and two lobes unfold, ready for business. Pollen is free to spill out, or, be picked up by passing insects.

View of stigma and free pollen grains.

A bunch of flowers wrapped in ray petals.

Make the most of all that beauty, it never ends well!