Name: Rudbeckia triloba
Type of Plant: A tall, biennial, or short-lived perennial black-eyed Susan with small, cheerful flowers. This plant may only live and flower one or two years, but it self-seeds so that once you have it you always have it.
Why I love this: I love this plant because it grows well in full sun or part-sun. It grows to three or four feet tall and it’s a fantastic cutting flower. The flowers are smaller than other Rudbeckia varieties and they are, I think, more attractive in bouquets than the larger blooms.
A Word to the Wise: This is a plant you’ll want to either start from seeds or get from someone else who grows it. Like many biennials, it’s hard to find in garden centers.
I have this plant growing on the edge of my rain garden. The seedlings that fall inside the rain garden get flooded whenever there are downpours, and this Rudbeckia doesn’t seem to mind at all.
The small cheerful flowers blend well in country-style bouquets and the more you cut off these plants, the longer they flower.
Here you can see how tall this plant really is. (Hint: I am NOT six feet tall.)
Love it!! I need to find this plant/seeds again. I have grown it for years and find it very cheerful and it grows with minimal care.
If you’re on Cape Cod I’ll give you some….
They are beautiful! How close together do you plant these?
If you’re planting them, place them about 18″ apart – they tend to be taller, skinny plants. But once you have them they will probably self-seed, and then you just let them appear and flower where they will.