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Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

from $8.99

Botanical name: Rudbeckia hirta • Bloom season: Summer to fall • Bloom color: Golden yellow with dark center • Host plant (elsewhere in North America): gorgone checkerspot, silvery checkerspot, Synchlora aerata

Golden daisies with a dark chocolate central dome, blooming heavily from midsummer into fall on sturdy stems. It is one of the most broadly useful pollinator plants, drawing a wide range of bees and butterflies rather than specializing, and it hosts two checkerspot species. The seed heads keep working for finches long after the petals drop.

Botanical name: Rudbeckia hirta • Bloom season: Summer to fall • Bloom color: Golden yellow with dark center • Host plant (elsewhere in North America): gorgone checkerspot, silvery checkerspot, Synchlora aerata

Golden daisies with a dark chocolate central dome, blooming heavily from midsummer into fall on sturdy stems. It is one of the most broadly useful pollinator plants, drawing a wide range of bees and butterflies rather than specializing, and it hosts two checkerspot species. The seed heads keep working for finches long after the petals drop.

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Rudbeckia hirta

Common Name: Black-eyed Susan

Native: Native

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Moderate

Bloom Time: Summer to fall

Bloom Color: Golden yellow with dark center

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 1'-2' x H 1'-3'

Soil: Well-drained; average garden soil

Plant Type: Annual to short-lived perennial

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Spread Habit: Self-sows

Available As: Live plant

Native Region: Eastern & Central N.A. (outside western regions)

Host Plant (Elsewhere in North America): gorgone checkerspot, silvery checkerspot, Synchlora aerata

Growing Notes

Full sun and average, well-drained garden soil with moderate water. Space about 15 inches apart. It is easy and fast and flowers in its first year from an early start, which makes it a good confidence-builder for a customer new to natives.

•   Water: Moderate

•   Sun: Full Sun

•   Soil: Well-drained; average garden soil

•   Mature size: W 1'-2' x H 1'-3'

Maintenance

Leave the seed heads standing through winter rather than cutting them; goldfinches eat the seeds through the cold months, and the dark cones hold their shape under snow. Cut back in late spring, keeping about a third of the stems for overwintering insects. Deadheading during the season extends the bloom but costs you the seed, so choose one. It spreads slowly by rhizome into a wider clump rather than running, so divide every three or four years in spring if the center starts to open up.