Summertime always brings a wide array of flower colors to the garden. Yellow is a favorite flower color in the southern garden because it holds its color and does not bleach out like some other flower colors in the heat.

Rudbeckia or Black-eyed Susan is in full bloom with beautiful yellow flowers at the Wilson Display Garden. Come out and see the garden in bloom from dawn until dusk at 1806 S. Goldsboro Street.

Black-eyed Susan gets it's name from the black seed head in the center of the 1 to 2 inch long golden-yellow flower petals. It blooms from summer to fall. Typically, you will have a large bloom show and if you deadhead (remove the spent flowers) you can get another smaller flush of blooms in the fall. Black-eyed Susans can be used as a cut flower, in perennial borders or in a mass planting.

The plant grows to 2 to 3 feet in height and prefers full sun. It is not invasive but does form larger clumps as it ages. This plant is very drought tolerant and does not need much fertilizer or care once established in the landscape.

Several diseases have been reported on Black-eyed Susan such as downy mildew, rust, and powdery mildew. I have not seen this to be a problem in the Wilson Display Garden or my home garden.

There are annual, biennial, and perennial Black-eyed Susans. Rudbeckia fulgida is the perennial form. The cultivar 'Goldsturm' has been very popular and even won the Perennial Plant of the year in 1999 from the Perennial Plant Association. 'Goldsturm' has a compact growth form and grows 2 feet tall.

Come visit the garden! Gardening questions can be answered on Mondays and Fridays from 1 until 3 PM by calling 237-0113.

Date Created: 12/12/00.

Updated: 8/25/03