(Rudbeckia hirta 'Black-Eyed Susan')

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Black-Eyed Susan is a native tender perennial flower commonly found growing in fields, woods, prairies, and along roadsides throughout the eastern United States. At maturity, this plant reaches the height of 1-3' and features 3-7” hairy lance-shaped leaves, 3” daisy-like flowers with orange to yellow petals, and a brown dome center. This plant attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, tolerates drought and light frost, is resistant to deer, self-sows, and is used as a cut flower!

  • ​General Information
  • ​Soil Preparation
  • Germination
  • Seedlings
  • Crop Care
  • Harvesting
  • Seed Saving
  • Companion Planting
  • Uses
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Family: Asteraceae

Genus: Rudbeckia

Species: hirta

Variety: Black-Eyed Susan

Also Known As: Yellow Ox-eye Daisy
​
Native to: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia.

Introduced into: Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krym, Kuril Is., Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Primorye, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Yugoslavia.

Ease of Growing: Easy

Grown as: Biennial
 
Maturity: 70 Days
 
Hardiness: Hardy. Black-Eyed Susan can tolerate light frost and will sometimes survive a hard frost or snow.

Crops: Spring Transplant, Spring

Growing Season: Short, Long

​Growing Conditions: Cool, Warm. Black-Eyed Susan tolerate a wide variety of climates but will do best in full sun, well-draining rich soil, and cool temperatures. The plants will often stop blooming in hot weather. 

Outdoor Growing Temp: 55°F - 85°F

Min Outdoor Soil Temp: 60°F. Black-Eyed Susan seeds can be planted as soon as the soil warms up to around 60˚ F.

Start Indoors: Yes

Start Outdoors: Yes

Water: Moderate. Black-Eyed Susan plants require regular watering but never water so much that the soil becomes soggy. 

Feeder: Light. Black-Eyed Susan prefers a rich soil but will tolerate poor soils of many types.

Suitability: Tolerates light frost

Small Gardens?: Yes

Containers?: Yes. Sometimes known as “pot marigold,” Black-Eyed Susan is easily grown in pots on the doorstep or in window boxes.

Attracts beneficial insects?: Yes. Butterflies, bees and a variety of insects are attracted to the flowers for the nectar.

Height: 12-36”
 
Spacing: 15-18”

Produces:  3-7” hairy lance-shaped leaves, 3” daisy-like flowers that have orange to yellow petals and a brown dome center. 

USDA Grow Zone: 4a-10b
Soil Preference:
Soil pH: 4.5-8.3, Ideal 6.0-7.0. Black-Eyed Susan will grow in almost any soil, but prefers a rich, well-drained one.

Soil Preparation:
Compost (Nitrogen), 2" in top 6" of soil, 1 time: Incorporate a maximum 2" of compost into the top 6" of soil before planting.
Direct sow in late fall, pressing into the surface of the soil since this plant needs light to germinate. For spring planting, mix the seeds with moist sand and store in the refrigerator for 30 days before planting. Keep the soil lightly moist until germination, which usually takes 2-3 weeks. The seeds can also be started indoors 6-8 weeks before planting in spring. Keep seedlings lightly moist, and transplant them as soon as they have developed several leaves.
Water seedlings regularly until they become established. This plant grows very quickly and needs little care. Though it grows well in fairly dry soil, it performs best with occasional watering in dry weather. This plant usually begins blooming in its second year of growth. Mature plants tolerate heat and drought well, as well as tolerating clay or rocky soils. Deadhead for the longest blooming period. Mature plants can be divided. This plant attracts butterflies, and may self-seed.
Keep soil evenly moist and keep the area well-weeded for the best blooms. Never over-water - soil should never be soggy.

Water Needs: Moderate. Black Eyed Susan plants require regular watering but never water so much that the soil becomes soggy. 

Fertilizer Needs: Light. Black Eyed Susan prefers a rich soil but will tolerate poor soils of many types.

Watering, regularly: Water, 1/2", regularly, 2 times a week. Watering also depends on your local weather; don't water if it's raining, or water more frequently if it's dry. Just be sure to keep soil moist but never soggy for the best crop. The best way to know how much moisture is in your soil is to feel 2" below the soil line. If it's dry, water.

Weeding, before flowering: before flowering, every 2 weeks. Keep Black Eyed Susan well-weeded, especially while young.

Pruning, after flowering: after flowering, 1 time a week. Remove flowers when they start to fade for continued blooms.

Support: No
To harvest black-eyed Susan seeds, snip or pull the seed heads off the plants and place them in a brown bag as you walk through the garden. Shake the bag or open the cones to dislodge the seeds from the cones. Sift the seeds and remove any leaves or plant debris.
Not all the seeds will be viable, so save more than you think you'll need. Spread the seeds out in a shallow box or cookie tray and store in a dry location, such as a garage, for several weeks or until the seeds feel completely dry. Package the seeds in a plastic or paper bag, label them and store them in the refrigerator.
Black-eyed Susan looks great with almost any of the native prairie and meadow species, but it looks particularly nice with airy white flowers such as flowering spurge (Euphorbia corallata), White Shasta Daisies, White phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘David’),  or Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea).
​
They are also well-suited to planting colorful flowers such as the brilliant orange butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), clasping coneflower, purple coneflower, purple Salvia nemorosa, or the deep blue-purple Delphinium exaltatum. Other good companions include lance-leaf coreopsis, butterfly milkweed, gaillardia, Russian sage, stonecrop, and ox-eye daisy. You can use it with daylilies, hollyhock and aster, as well. 

To balance the scale of black-eyed Susans, you can even interplant them with Hosta, or (as they are often used in roadside plantings) plant them with ornamental grasses such as variegated maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus') in drifts. You can even plant them as borders around your rose garden.
​
Some gardeners plant black-eyed Susan in their vegetable gardens, not only for visual interest, but to attract pollinators useful for vegetable growth.
​​To make a tea, add 5 teaspoons of the dried root to a cup of boiling water and steep for a few minutes then strain the tea to remove the irritating hairs.

Suggested Varieties

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