Black Eyed Susan 'Indian Summer' (Rudbeckia hirta)

Black Eyed Susan 'Indian Summer' - Anchorage, Alaska - September 2002

Weez, don't you just love the 'Indian Summer' rudbeckia. Those 7" blooms just make your flower beds come alive & it looks just great beside salvia farinacea 'victoria' or salvia patens. I plant them every year. Great pic.

Broots: Yes, I just love them, and I wish I had a whole bed of them, but these were growing up at Alaska Mill & Feed in Anchorage. I just couldn't resist taking some photos. I had to do a bit of research to identify them.

They must be perennial for them in Anchorage, since this is the second year they've had them. We're some 120 miles south of Anchorage, so our summers are not as warm and sunny. However, I'm going to see if I can get seed for these and give them a try. I just love them!

Yes, I'll bet they are really spectacular with salvia! I'd like to try some with veronica or bellflowers...blue and that wonderful golden yellow!

Weez, wow what a hugh bloom. I am going to give it a try also. It would really help during the hot dry days of August-September here. And a hardy perennial to boot.

Yes, Golddog. It could even take the place of dwarf sunflowers! From the bed of them I saw, they are really full of blooms and the stalks are quite sturdy... no staking!

Am not familiar with this plant. Is it just Rudbeckia hirta? Not Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'? I am just wondering where the 'Indian Summer' fits in.

Indian Summer is the cultivar name.

Thanks Weez. Some of the Heliopsis are good canidates for sunflower look-alikes. Zones 3-9.

Weez, I have tried growing these as a perennial & the second year they are much smaller for me & then I yanked them out. So I just start them fresh every year, that way the plant stays large with big flowers. Seeing as you are in zone 3b you might have better luck at the perennial part than I did. I have not seen this offered in many US seed catalogues. Only one I think.Of course I only deal with about 4-5 US companies. So if you have trouble finding it, let me know & I will get you some.

Thanks, Broots. I'll let you know if I can't find seed. I had a hard time even finding it on the net, so I was beginning to wonder if they were available in seeds.

Weez, most Cdn. seed catalogues that I deal with carry the 'Indian Summer'. Wonder why you don't see it that much in the US. It is really great for flower arrangements too.

Weez, what beautiful flowers!! My Indian Summer don't grow as big.

Hi, Sodakine These beauties were growing in Anchorage, AK, about 120 miles north of here. I've started some this spring, but our summers are so short, cool and wet here, I'm not sure how it will perform, much less winter over.

I shall be looking out for that one, it does look a bit special and I love rudbeckias for the sunshine they bring to autumn (fall LOL)

Hi, Phil. Someone sent me the seed this spring. I'll look to see if I have any left, or perhaps I can let you know who sent it to me. The seedlings are certainly healthy looking.

Thanks - I ought to be able to find it in a catalogue here, but I'm a bit snowed under (not literally lol) at the moment anyway. My house is in a state of turmoil as I'm having leaks and their consequences fixed etc. My kitchen is a shell with few floorboards and everything from the kitchen (including new cupboards to be fitted) is in the living room ......or garage ...... or somewhere - I think LOL etc

Phil, a great opportunity to grow mushrooms under the house now that the floor is up and out. Gardeners never miss an opportunity.

LOLOL Too late - the floorboards are back down again
Dash it!

Best to get the boards back down before someone finds a femur and claims it is an archiological dig!

They're up again and a ruddy great hole in the wall, because some kind (TIC) workman in the past had filled the cavity with rubble and this had wicked water into the wall from a leak from my drain!!! It smelt to high heaven and is now opened up to let the whole thing dry out.

The plus side is that I'm spending some time with a friend in Scotland, so will not notice that there's no sink and no cooker. By the time I return the new cooker should be in, but because of the above I'll probably still have no sink :(

PS there were probably many things growing in that wall, but unfortunately edible mushroms were not one of them

Still sounds like a potential crime scene to me, Phil... but also the makings of a great book... sharpen your pencil.