Skip to content
Perennial · Asteraceae Draft — unreviewed

Black-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta L.

Also called black-eyed Susan.

Short-lived native wildflower that blooms its first year from seed and keeps itself going by reseeding. A staple of meadow mixes.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 0.3–0.9 m (1–3 ft) tall and 0.3–0.5 m (1 ft) wide; fast growth, about 2 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.45) from the #1 install size.

00.511.52mPlanting0.3 × 0.3 mYear 30.5 × 0.3 mYear 100.6 × 0.4 mMature0.6 × 0.4 m

Bloom

Golden yellow flowers, Jun–Sep (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).

Bloom calendar: months each plant is in bloom
PlantJFMAMJJASOND
Black-eyed Susan : Jun–Sep

Design notes

  • Behaves as an annual or biennial; let some seedheads ripen.
  • Large-flowered "gloriosa daisy" strains are the same species.

Regions

Native range: Much of North America.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

NortheastSoutheast

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Goldsturm black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' · Perennial · 0.6–0.8 m (2 ft)
Common yarrow
Achillea millefolium · Perennial · 0.5–0.9 m (1–3 ft)
Eastern red columbine
Aquilegia canadensis · Perennial · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)
Swamp milkweed
Asclepias incarnata · Perennial · 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft)
Butterfly weed
Asclepias tuberosa · Perennial · 0.5–0.8 m (1–2 ft)
Blue false indigo
Baptisia australis · Perennial · 0.9–1.2 m (3–4 ft)

Plan with Black-eyed Susan

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden