Rudebeckias: Often Overlooked But 'Eye'-Catching Flowers

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was driving down County Road 111 in Manorville when something caught my eye.

Back then the road was one lane in each direction, no stop signs, no traffic lights and the median was an occasionally mowed strip of typical highway roadside grasses and weeds. But in a flash I saw something and made a mental note about a plant that had me interested.

I returned later that week and took a much closer look at a rudbeckia that was growing between the lines of traffic. It was about 30 inches tall, the only plant of its kind in the area and the flowers were about 3 inches in diameter. The remarkable part though was the flower. The size and structure of the plant was that of the typical black-eyed Susan but the coloration of the flower was that of a chocolate sunset with hints of orange, burnt red and chocolate.

I was smitten.

And thus began my long affair with rudbeckias, even though they are often the castoffs of the summer garden and are much overlooked. It’s too bad because they are heat resistant, virtually insect free, generally disease free, can easily be grown from seed, have a surprising color range and grow as dwarfs all the way to giants. Maybe best of all is that you can go to a local garden center and buy a packet of rudbeckia seeds today and have them blooming in your garden next summer and for endless summers to come for just a few bucks.

I was able to do some selective breeding with the rudbeckia I found. And in the 1980s the Chocolate Sunset variety was sold in garden centers all over the East End.

I’d like to think it’s still growing somewhere out here, but for the uninitiated, there are dozens of varieties of black-eyed Susans with Burpee alone offering seeds for Indian Summer, Hot Chocolate, Moroccan Sun, Tiger Eye and Ruby Gold mix. Among the five, the heights run from 16 to 46 inches in a range of orange, yellow and brown tones and variations.

Rudbeckias were grown in English gardens many years before they were accepted by Americans as worthy garden plants. One of the earliest selections was

rudbeckia laciniata

, known in the early 1600s as “

doronicum americanum

.”

British plant collector John Tradescant was given roots of the wildflower by French settlers in the New World. The plant was shared with others, including John Parkinson, the famous English herbalist and an early botanist, and was soon popular in English gardens. By the mid-1800s, the rudbeckia had found its way back to America and was described by one early garden writer as “the darling of the ladies who are partial to yellow.”

Growing throughout the prairies and plains, it was used medicinally by many Native Americans to care for both people and horses. The roots and flowers were made into teas and compresses to treat a variety of ailments, including snakebites, worms, earaches, indigestion, burns and sores.

In 1918, the black-eyed Susan was named the state flower of Maryland. The choice was not unanimously popular, however.

Those in favor of the selection saw it as a beautiful flower that created splendid fields of color during summer and fall. In bloom it echoed the black and gold found in the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore, the founding proprietor of the Maryland colony.

The opposition noted that black-eyed Susan was not native to the state and many people saw it as a common weed. Today it is cherished throughout the state as a popular symbol of many awards, businesses and organizations.

There are 25 species of rudbeckia, including perennials, biennials and annuals. All are native to North America and are generally found growing in the east and Midwest, though they have now naturalized throughout most of the United States and can be seen in fields and gardens from Canada to Mexico.

Quite often you’ll see the simple

rudbeckia hirta

growing along highway medians and right-of-ways because it is common in the seed mixes specified in restoration seed mixes required in state contracts. You’ll also notice in the fall that yellow finches love to perch on the ripened flowers to pick out the seeds.

This group,

rudbeckia hirta

, is the most common in the garden as well. Often called “gloriosa daisy,” there are many varieties available in a wide range of sizes. Flowers bloom from July until late October out here in shades of orange, orange-yellow and yellow.

Rudbeckia hirta

can be a short-lived perennial but it will often self-seed, leaving the impression that it’s actually a persistent perennial.

Rudbeckia fulgida,

on the other hand, is a very hardy perennial. But we’ll look at this one next week.

Rudbeckias have been known by a variety of common names, including conedisk, conedisk sunflower, tall coneflower, and brown-eyed Susans. Today they are most often referred to as “coneflowers,” “black-eyed Susans,” “gloriosa daisies” or “rudbeckia.”

The Indian Summer variety was an “All-America Selections” winner in 1995. It produces stunning 5- to 9-inch flowers on plants that reach about 3 feet tall. The golden-yellow flowers are ideal for cutting.

Another “AAS” winner was Cherokee Sunset (

rudbeckia/hirta hybrida

). The semi-double and double 2- to 4-inch flowers bloom in shades of yellow, orange, bronze and mahogany. Plants reach about 30 inches tall.

Several shorter varieties are available for growing in containers and in small gardens.

The Becky variety produces dwarf 10- to 12-inch plants with large, 3-inch flowers in orange, yellow and cinnamon bicolor, also available in a formula mix. Toto is dwarf and compact, with smaller flowers covering the 12- to 15-inch tall plants. There are several single colors available as well as a mix. Other popular varieties are Corona, Cordoba, Sonora and the fully-double Maya.

It’s my observation, though, that the shorter varieties seem to be very short-lived and not nearly as attractive and useful in the home garden as the taller types. Quite often you’ll see the short varieties used as annual plantings in commercial settings.

If you’re looking for something different, Prairie Sun produces spectacular 5-inch blooms with golden-yellow petals tipped with a brush of lighter primrose yellow surrounding a striking light-green center cone. The 3-foot-tall branching plants can be grown in gardens and large containers. A similar variety with smaller yellow flowers and green centers is Irish Eyes or Green Eyes.

Next week, how to grow these plants successfully from seed and a few that you will need to buy as plants because they can’t be grown from seed. Go get the seed, it’s on the seed racks and in the catalogs online, and next week we’ll sow them.

Keep growing.