Reference books tend to damn the vernacular Black - Eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia hirta ) with faint extolment . “ A weedy biennial of North America , ” say one , disdainfully . “ Probably the most vernacular of all American wild flower ” says another . Just about the best matter that most author can think of to say about this aboriginal flora is that it is the province flower of Maryland . If you took these references to heart , you might come away thinking that this prolific late summertime bloomer is some variety of horticultural slattern .
Nothing could be farther from the Sojourner Truth . Black - Eyed Susan has many virtue , not the least of which is its “ commonness ” .
When I was little , my grandmother , a lover of flowers , used to beak scores ofBlack - Eyed Susansfrom a vacant heap up the hill from our summertime bungalow . She took off all the leaves and coiffure the stalk in a chunky green glass vase , so that the blossoms formed a tight gilt - orange and black ball . The effect was jubilant and abundant , and the show pass on for sidereal day .
Black - Eyed Susan is a part of the huge and far - flung Asteraceae family , whose members are distinguished by their daisy - like efflorescence and generally winning ways . Of of course , the blossom are a natural complement to their horticultural cousin-german , the late summer and fall - blossom asters . In August and September there are few things more beautiful than goldenrod , gaga chicory , New England asters and Black - Eyed Susans flower in tight law of proximity .
Perhaps because the plants are so common in the wild , I have never had the cultivate Black - Eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia fulgida ) in my garden . I have sure enough installed its relative , purple coneflower , but I have just never been moved to purchase Rudbeckia fulgida . The species , especially the best - trade cultivar ‘ Goldsturm ’ , is almost as omnipresent in the nursing home garden as Rudbeckia hirta is in hedgerows and other unclaimed spaces in the easterly two - tierce of the United States . It is , of course , an highly reliable plant , forming large clumps within a few years , and ask almost no care from the gardener . The fashionablelandscape designersWolfgang Oehme and James Van Sweden use Rudbeckia fulgida extensively in their stunning naturalistic planting outline . Others , with less talent and imagination , use the species here there and everywhere because it is cheap and easygoing .
After seeing vast quantities of both risky and domesticated Black - Eyed Susan , I call up that I prefer the barbarian phase . The flowers are fewer and smaller because the plant life has not been hybridized to produce mass quantities of big blooms . Fortunately , what Rudbeckia hirta miss in measure it make up in quality , not to mention subtle good luck charm . Clumps of it would be effective interspersed with other mintage in a naturalized part of the garden . If you could arrange it so that your Black - Eyed Susans arise from clouds of lower - growing plants , all the near . Their stems are rather stock , and their leaves are nothing to write home about .
This is not to say that someday I may not break down and put some Rudbeckia fulgida in my garden . While I am at it , I might also endue in Rudbeckia laciniata , a specie that I see listed in one of the specialization nursery catalogs . It shares the same white-livered petals coarse to other Rudbeckias , but alternatively of the black “ heart ” in the heart , it has a greenish yellow key disk .
For those inveterate crafters who like to dry thing for fall and wintertime arrangements , the various Rudbeckia are a godsend . The flower petal do not last , but if you amass the stalks as soon as the petals fade , you’re able to dry the central disks or strobilus to expend subsequently . Just be sure not to waitress too long , or they will foil your plans by going to sow , and those source - comport heart will disintegrate .
If you need to buy Rudbeckia fulgida ‘ Goldsturm ’ you may walk , drive or hitchhike to the skinny garden pith or mega merchant . They are bound to have some just about any time except the dead of winter . Rudbeckia hirta is by all odds not jeopardize , but it is probably not a good estimation to dig it from the wild . Instead , keep your hands clean-living and order seeded player from one of the various seller of wild flower . The seeds are bantam , 1,450,000 per British pound sterling , so you may probably make do with less than an oz. . Once plant they will self - seed , eliminating the need to concern about buying more . In fact , the only thing that you will have to do is watch out for “ volunteer ” Black - Eyed Susans springing up in places where you would prefer to have something else .
One thing to remember there is a flora in commerce that frequents the garden centers calling itself “ Black - Eyed Susan Vine ” . This is not a Rudbeckia at all , but a Thunbergia with a passing resemblance to member of the Rudbeckia clan . purchase it , plant it , pot it , and cling it , but do not confuse it with the veridical thing . Mother Nature never intended Rudbeckia to hang from a hooking on the porch .
middleman Elisabeth Ginsburg
Yellow RoseSWORD LILIESCHANGE IN THE GARDENUNFORGETTABLEFRESH veg
