I have planted several different versions of rudbeckia, and each one says something slightly different. I know that the rudbeckia goldstrum is a perennial, but the others are confusing.
I have a beautiful gloriosa daisy (rudbeckia hirta) from Livingston Seed that says onthe front of the package perennial. This one has yellow tips, with a mahogany face, and brown center. Then I have two packages of irish eyes from two different companies. Irish eyes look like black eye susans, except the center is green instead of brown or black. The package from Lake Valley Seed says that it is rudbeckia fulgida . It is listed as a perennial with a height of 4 - 5 feet. The Irish eyes from Botanical Interest is listed as rudbeckia hirta with a height of 18 - 36 inches. This one is listed as a tender perennial.
I did go through the plant guide, and some old posts but that only served to muddy the water. All of these flowers are listed as gloriosa daisies in the guide. Some people in warmer areas were reported that it was an annual, but gardeners in my zone and slightly north were reported them as perennials.
Right now, I just have seedlings. I have not grown any of these in the past. I was hoping for perennials. If anyone has experience with any of these I'd appreciate it.
Rudbeckia - Annual or Perennial
Wow - I was just at the Chicago Lawn and Garden Show and attended a seminar that included this plant precisely! Anyway, there are BOTH perennial and annual rudbeckia, depending upon the species. A tender perennial is simply one which is hardy only in the higher numbered zones. He showed a number of the gloriosa daisy types that were annuals in 5a. I asked the presenter afterwards about how to know, and he said that the reputable seed companies actually package according to zone, and they should be as stated for your zone if you buy them locally. He said if unsure, plant in a warm microclimate and be sure to protect over the winter (mulch well) and they should behave as perennials for you if listed as a tender. Hope this helps - Dax
pf, i am from a colder zone and probably have more of a problem with the tender rudebeckias than you in 6b- I think you'll get lots of them coming back anyway, but here's one consolation- many of them set seed- not exactly like the parents, but thats the fun of it- lots of variations and crosses.
My experience with Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer' is that it is a short lived perennial. It has a few good years in it but you will need to gather seeds to keep them going past their third year. My impression is that this general rule applies to R. hirta. My seed grown Rudbeckia fulgida expands by seed and runners every year.
I am not sure about 'Irish Eyes'. In a web search I see it listed as both R. fulgida and R. hirta. My impression is that R. hirta has hairy leaves (even as seedlings) so it seems like it should be easy enough to identify the species. I am not sure how true any of these come from seed. The plants grown from seed collected from my Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer' did not seem as impressive as the nursery purchased plants.
- Brent
Just as a followup to the Irish eyes, the rudbeckia hirta from Botanical Interest had a germination rate of two to three times the rudbeckia fulgida from Lake Valley Seed. Both of them have the hair leaves of the rudbeckia goldstrum. The Rudbeckia hirt are also twice the size of the others although they were all sowed the same day.
It took the Irish eyes a lot longer to germinate than the regular rudbeckia. I have some rudbeckia now that over a foot tall. The tallest Irish eyes is about three inches.
Early season inspection shows that all my soft rudbeckias overwintered here with an average winter.
Some of my soft ruddies made it through a very cold (for us anyway) and extremely wet winter. I'm pretty sure they are 'Goldilocks'; doesn't look like Cherokee Sunset made it.
I am just now getting around to starting all my rudbeckias....I just knew in January when they predicted the coldest winter in 40 years, that I would end up with seedlings that couldn't handle the spring winds....I have trays of everything that can't be put in the ground and are sooooooooo verrrrry ready except they can't take 40 mph winds everyday...the winds don't stop until the first of May....am going to pot up into trays of 38 and see if they can hold out for May....
I am going to sow a lot more at the end of the summer for October planting than ever before.....even my Salvia 'Marble Arch', an annual, made it through the freezes....going to put most all in the fall and then not anything else until May from now on....the garden is beautiful because the plants are so established that the wind just blows by them....even the hollyhock are starting to bloom....
I never knew that Texas could be so windy.
Indian summer is by far my favorite plant of all time!!!! I haven't bought seeds in years as I am able to use mine from previous years. I've done a couple of SASE's here as well- I usually end up with a ton. Sadly my last batch of seeds never made it out of the paper bag in my kitchen.. They are probably not viable anymore but I just never got around to doing anything with them.
Although it is a perennial I never count on it because of my zone and grow it as an annual. Winter here is a toss up and what will live one, will die the next... Indian Summer is a perennial that is as easy to grow from seed as any annual I've started.
Of the other Rudbeckias... I have the plain ole 'Black eyed susans' that everyone's mother/grandmother/neighbor has. I don't think you can kill it!! LOL!!
Several years ago I bought a huge pack of 'Prarie Sun' and although some of the DG folks I sent seeds to had luck, mine did not survive. I still have seeds but haven't tried again though.
I can't remember the name of the last one I had but it had a burgundy face and it couldn't seem to handle the head/humidity here.. No help without a name I know!! :) I'd know it if I heard it!!
Ok enough rambling!
Nicole
Sounds like a good chance to share one of my favorite garden pictures. Back in the "old days" when I was not growing plants from seed (about 2001) I purchased three 'Indian Summer' plants from a nursery. That was also before I learned that they were short lived. I have harvested seed and I am growing more this year.
The flowers on my 'Indian Summer' were so large and pretty. I had a friend of the neighbors stop by and take pictures of the blooms because she was so impressed. I am hoping that my seed grown plants will obtain the same level as the purchased plants. I did grow some more from seed a couple years ago, but they were planted in a fairly shady spot and were not as nice.
- Brent
Brent that is beautiful. I am adding it to my screensaver.
Someone say pictures? Hee hee hee...
Nicole
Ok so last one!!
Nicole
Here is a shot of my other patch of Rudbeckia. As a novice gardener "black-eyed susan" was one of the few plants that I knew by name and remembered having around the house as a child. I purchased the 3 'Indian Summer' plants and the same year I had a volunteer Rudbeckia show up in another spot in the same bed. The next year there were 3 plants so I moved them to this bed. As you can see, they have sure grown!
They do really need to be dug up and divided because last year they had a pretty nasty case of some type of fungal issue that caused black marks on most of the leaves.
- Brent
