Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed Susan Seed
(ruhd-BECK-ee-uh  HER-tah)
Easyliving Native Perennial Wildflowers
Native Wild Flower Seed & Plants for Home Landscaping & Prairie Restoration

For other flowers visit the wildflower seed list , to order copy the orderform or
email questions, comments, and orders to john@easywildflowers.com   

Minimum combined seed order amount is $10, this can be a combination of different wildflowers.  Seed shipping chart at bottom of page
Rudbeckia hirta, Blackeyed Susan is a familiar roadside daisy growing throughout the eastern United States.  It is a magnet for butterflies in the summer and songbirds will cover the plants in autumn devouring the seeds.  This versatile wildflower can be grown in a container for the patio or naturalized in a prairie meadow with Asclepias (Butterfly Weed), Oenothera (Missouri Primrose),  Echinacea (coneflower), and Native warm season prairie grasses.  black-eyed Susan flowers are beautiful symmetrical circles of deep yellow petals surrounding dark brown central cones.  Rudbeckia hirta can be an annual or short lived perennial depending on local growing conditions and will perform best with adequate moisture but will withstand periods of drought.  It self-seeds easily and can be invasive.  Blackeyed Susan is a host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly caterpillar.  Seeds germinate without pretreatment.

Uses

Erosion control: Black-eyed Susan is an important component in critical area treatment plantings along with grasses, legumes, and other forbs when used along road cuts, hillsides, and other areas subject to erosion.

 Wildlife: This plant offers protection and food to several song and game birds.

 Recreation and beautification: Black-eyed Susan can be used for landscaping and in wildflower gardens.

 Description

Rudbeckia hirta L., black-eyed Susan, is a biennial forb about 1 m tall with yellow ray flowers and dark brown spherical centers.  After germination, the seedling grows into a rosette with oblong leaves.  Sometimes flower stalks will appear in the first summer, but typically black-eyed Susan blooms from June to September of the second year.  After flowering and seed maturation, the plants die.  The seed is very small (1,746,000 per pound) and black, about 2 mm long and 0.5 mm in diameter.

 Adaptation and Distribution

Black-eyed Susan is naturalized in most of the states east of Kansas and the bordering areas of Canada.  It is adapted throughout the Northeast on soils with a drainage classification range from well-drained to somewhat poorly drained.  It will perform acceptably on droughty soils during years with average or above rainfall, but best growth is achieved on sandy, well drained sites.  It is winter hardy in areas where low temperatures are between -30 ° and -20 °F.

 Establishment

Black-eyed Susan is easily established with most critical area seeding techniques.  Generally ½ lb. of seed per acre is sufficient in mixes with conservation grasses, legumes, and other forbs.  Where the intent is to maximize the impact of the forb component, utilize bunchgrasses rather than aggressively spreading grasses such as reed canarygrass or bromegrass.  Once established, new seedlings will be produced from the preceding crop; the stand may perpetuate itself indefinitely.

 Management

After establishment, competing perennial vegetation should be controlled through the use of mechanical or chemical practices.  If competing vegetation is not controlled, one will observe a decrease in the number of black-eyed Susan plants.

 Pests and Potential Problems

Black-eyed Susan plants occurs naturally in prairies, savannas, rocky open woods, old fields, and along roadsides from Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to Florida and New Mexico.   Asteraceae (Aster Family)

The map below shows areas where native Rudbeckia hirta, Blackeyed Susan flowers grow wild.

Use the chart below for shipping charges on Rudbeckia hirta, Blackeyed Susan flower seeds, to order copy the order form or email questions, comments & orders to john@easywildflowers.com 

Please contact us by email with your address for shipping charges & availability on potted plants

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The minimum seed order amount is $10, this can be a combination of different wildflower seeds.

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Easyliving Wildflowers
PO Box  522
Willow Springs,  Mo.  65793
phone-fax 417-469-2611 

Rudbeckia hirta, Blackeyed Susan Plant distribution map complements of USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1
  (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.