Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are native to North America and one of the most popular wildflowers grown. They tend to blanket open fields, often surprising the passerby with their golden-yellow beauty.
Members of the aster family, Asteraceae, the “black eye” is named for the dark, brown-purple centers of its daisy-like flower heads. The plants can grow to over 3 feet tall, with leaves of 6 inches, stalks over 8 inches long, and flowers with a diameter of 2 to 3 inches.
Butterflies, bees, and a variety of insects are attracted to the flowers for the nectar. As they drink the nectar, they move pollen from one plant to another, causing it to grow fruits and seeds that can move about easily with the wind.
These plants bloom from June to October. Note that they can be territorial in that they tend to squash out other flowers growing near them.
Black-eyed Susans are good for cut flowers; they also work well for borders or in containers.
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Self-seeding
Thanks, Jim! Good to hear a great success story! We all need advice and encouragement. Cheers!
Rabbit eating growth
A rabbit is eating my new growth. Will the plant send up new growth after the rabbit has gone?
keep rabbits out of garden
Rabbits do love this plant. There’s not a lot you can do this year, but next year consider placing wire cages around the plants early enough to prevent rabbits from reaching and eating the tender shoots. See more ways to keep rabbits out of the garden: http://www.almanac.com/pest/rabbits
Most of my flowers have
Most of my flowers have started to pop up. But my black eyed Susan's have not. I have had trouble the last few years as my soul is mostly clay. When will I know if they are coming back or if they didn't survive?
Thanks!!!!
Black-eyed Susans
Hi Samantha,
Depending on which region you live in, your black-eyed Susans should come up within the next month to bloom by early- to mid-June. Black-eyed Susans are extremely resilient native flowers, but sometimes even the most determined plant (and gardener) can fall short. If you are still worried they may not come up, now through May is the time to plant new seeds. They’ll germinate and sprout in 7-30 days and be ready to bloom by June.
We hope this helps!
BES
they are so not beautiful because they do no bloom do not plant them
Buds
I was told you can roughup the soil and put the whole see buds in the ground and chances are they will come up. True or false
Rudbeckia Seed Heads
You can plant whole seed heads but the results won’t be as good as properly drying the seeds and separating them to sew. The plant’s natural habit is to let the seed head dry on the stem; eventually it bursts and disperses individual seeds. If you want them to reach their full potential, it’s better to mimic that method.
rudbeckia little goldstar black eyed susan
I was informed that little goldstar black eyed susan was a perennial. I have about twenty of these plants that I made a border from in a raised flower bed. Some of them bloomed nicely but after blooming they started looking like they were dieing leaves turning brown and a couple of them died all the way to the ground, all of the foliage. Is this normal for them to do this and the ones that died all the way to the ground will they come back or are they dead for good? I took care of them and some of them still have nice foliage but I don't know why after flowering they looked like that. Thanks Patricia
black eyed susan seeds
hello!
I literally just cut my susies to the base because they were drying out. I saved a lot of the heads and am preparing to shake the seeds off to plant next year. Should i let them dry out for a few days before i shake them off and put them in the fridge? Should i cover the base of the plant now in mulch?
thanks!
Black-eyed Susan Seeds
Hi Cara,
You can put them in a glass jar and stick them in the fridge now. (You don’t want them to completely dry out, a bit of moisture ensures viability come spring.) Remember to stratify the seeds before sowing them.
Cutting back
My black eyed Susan's are falling over. Can I cut them back without hurting them as far as reseeding
Black-eyed Susan Seeds
Hi Linda,
It is a good idea to let the plants self sow by leaving the blooms on through the fall (some people stake their plants, others just let them flop over). When they are good and dry, then cut them back and shake the seed heads around to scatter them.
black eyed susans
I may be moving throughout the winter and am wondering if i can somehow bring my blackeyed susans in for the winter as i am with my bulbs?
Love the almanac ❤️
Love the almanac ❤️
Missing petals
Planted them several years ago, everything normal. This year some or all of the petals are missing from the flowers. What could be doing this? Doesn't seem like the pests you list would focus just on petals. It has been dry this summer but I have been watering. Surely it wouldn't be fertilization needed because that would affect the whole plant. Any ideas?
black-eyed susans problems
I haven’t had missing flower petals from black-eyed susans but this has happened with my coneflowers. This is usually a mite issue; they suck the nutrients and distort the flowers so there are missing petals. You need to cut back the inflected flowers to the ground in the fall and destroy all the infected parts (trash them, not compost).
thanks
appreciate the suggestion. I did look after dark with a flashlight and saw only two different small beetles that appeared innocent of the crime. I might try a soapy spray because they are apparently going to look this way for months unless something is done and it would be nice to have some actual flowers this summer.
First-year blooms?
We bought our house last year, and I planted some pots of black-eyed susans in our front beds. They produced blooms all summer and apparently dropped seeds, but I stopped watering them in the fall, anticipating a freeze that never came, and the original plants died. Now, it's the following summer and the seeds have sprouted and grown to over two feet tall, but I'm not seeing any blooms or buds. Is it possible that I have a variety that only blooms in the second year? Can I expect to see any blooms this summer?
Black-eyed Susan
There are 25 species of Rudbeckia including perennials, biennials, and annuals. It is possible you have a biennial, which would explain the absence of flower buds. Without knowing the parentage, it’s not possible to say for certain if you will see blooms this year.
Blackeyed susans
I purchased black eyed susans that were healthy and full of buds for flowers. I planted in good garden soil and watered. it seems that something is eating the flower buds. What should I use to deter whatever is eating the plant...
buggy black-eyed susans
Several people have written (below) of this problem. Before you can do anything you need to know what the problem is; here is our advice from below. See also the info under “Pests” above:
• There are also foliage-loving bugs. Go out after dark with a flashlight and examine your plant for slugs, earwigs, whiteflies, etc. (Google for photos or see our pest library). Once you identify the pest, you can figure out a control to deter it.
• One possibility is that your soil has become depleted … trying enriching it, but not too much. If they are super cramped, they may need to be divided. Another possibility is that surrounding plants or structures may have changed since last year and your ladies are getting less sun.
• Go out after dark with a flashlight and examine your plant for slugs, earwigs, whiteflies, etc. (Google for photos or see our pest library). Once you identify the pest, you can figure out a control to deter it.
• If this happened overnight, it would normally be a deer or rabbit or animal. They usually leave the stem and go for the leaves.
Otherwise, look carefully at the leaves. Caterpillars tend to chew holes in the leaves. Slugs chews ragged, irregular shaped holes in leaves that cross the veins. See our pests and critter library to I.D. and learn more: http://www.almanac.com/topics/gardening/pests-and-problems
We hope this helps!
Black eyed Susan did not return
My husband bought me a beautiful BES plant from the florist last July. I planted in the ground and it did well for the rest of the summer. I plucked off some dead heads that went to seed and sprinkled them down in the excess dirt around the plant. It is now the middle of May, and nothing is coming up. All of my other perennials are up, even the mums are coming up. Should i just consider it dead or wait a little while longer before planting something else in it's place?
trimming black eyed Susans
My black eyed Susans are growing quickly ( 12-18 inches now) and crowding out my Sweet Williams. Can I cut them back some to keep the other flowers from being smothered, or will that keep the BAS from blooming? I can just pull them up, but I think I need them for after the Sweet Williams stop blooming. If I do trim the back how tall should I leave them? If I cut them almost to the ground will they start over?? Thanks!
You can cut the flowers back
You can cut the flowers back to about 12 inches and the plant will get bushier and not grow as tall. You may loose some blossoms but the plant should bloom a little later in the summer.
Rudbeckia not Reappearing?
I am in zone 5, and late last Jul or August I planted several rudbeckia hirta (I think Denver Daisy but I can't remember for sure; the petals were burgundy toward the centers). It seemed to establish well and was still getting blooms well into October. I left it alone - didn't dead head anything or cut it back - until late December, when I did cut it to about 3 inches. I thought it was hardy and a self-seeder, and expected to see it back. It is now mid-May and there is no evidence of any rudbeckia. I planted it with double scoop coneflowers, all of which are coming up nicely. Is it too early still, or should I assume I lost it all? There is quite a bit of mulch down in the area, so maybe it wasn't able to seed well. I don't want to pull them and plant something else there if there is a chance it will still come up, but the empty spot needs filled with something. Thanks!
Rudbeckia hirta
Our sources suggest that this plant is usually grown as an annual but the native form can occur as a biennial—this info from the Wildflower Org: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RUHI2
Other sources concur on the annual side; go ahead and plant something else.
I love Black eyed Susies~~ I
I love Black eyed Susies~~ I'm trying to find the exact name of the ones where the flower heads are smaller than usual and they are taller than the typical BES's. Thanking you in advance. Lisa
black-eyed susans
It is March, and my BESs are black balls atop dead-looking stalks.We had very little snow this year in the Hudson Valley in NY. Do I cut them back, or are they dead? They come back every year, and I've never touched them. Should I pull out the old stalks?
Thank you for your help,
brenda
cut to clean
Sure, you can cut off the stalks. The new growth will come from the soil (root), not last year’s stem.
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