Whether we call them black-eyed susans or coneflowers, there are a couple of dozen species of Rudbeckia, an American genus in the Compositae or Asteraceae or simply “daisy family” that has produced many popular garden perennials, biennials and even annuals.
I long ago stopped growing ‘Goldsturm,’ from the species R. fulgida, probably the most familiar Rudbeckia of all. Like many gardeners, I planted lots when ‘Goldsturm’ was first popularized (along with Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and purple coneflower, remember?) and guess I OD’d on it. A good plant, but here are three I like better:
rudbeckia ‘herbstsonne’MY LONGEST Rudbeckia relationship has proven to be ‘Herbstsonne,’ whose name translates as autumn sun, and which earned a Royal Horticulture Society Award of Garden Merit in 2002. Whether it is Rudbeckia nitida or Rudbeckia laciniata or a hybrid of the two, I do not know; depends who you ask.It has been with me more years than I can recall—certainly a decade-plus, and probably more like 15. What is now a big clump reliably erupts around July at the far side of the property, on a direct axis from where I work all day. Though I sit more than 100 feet away, there is no missing this 6-plus-footer with many weeks of vivid yellow flowers.
It has duked it out in a giant stand of even-taller ornamental grasses without even a hiccup, and
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