Perennial flowering plants

If you are looking for an eye catcher, the big and bold Black Eyed Susan flowers are perfect for your garden. Native to North America, these plants are wildflowers that can be found in meadows in mid to late summer. Members of the Aster family, they are bright perennial flowering plants that are also known under the name Rudbeckia.

They have yellow or orange flowers with a dark seeded center. They could also come in shades varying from russet and bronze to mahogany and they look like daisies. The leaves are the main way to differentiate daisies from Black Eyed Susan flowers. The latter have coarse textured hairy leaves.

Black Eyed Susan plants can be classified under the Tracheobionta sub-kingdom, from the Spermatophyte super division and the Magnoliophyta division. The class to which the Black Eyed Susan plants belong is the magnoliopsida, in the subclass Asteridae and the Asterales order. They also belong to the Asteraceae family, to the Rudbeckia L. genus and Rudbeckia hirta L. species.

Black Eyed Susan plants can go by different names: Brown-eyed Susan, Conedisk, Conedisk Sunflower and Gloriosa Daisy Tall Coneflower.

The plants grow to a height of 18 to 72 inches and bloom starting with the middle of summer and into the fall. If you choose to grow the smaller varieties, plant them about 18 inches apart and if you select the larger types, plant them 44 inches apart.

They propagate through seeds, which can be sowed during the spring directly into the soil. After about 2 or 3 years you can also propagate it by separation or division by digging up a clump of soil that you divide into smaller clumps and replant. If the flowers bloom in the fall then they can be divided in the spring and if they bloom during the summer then they can be transplanted in the autumn.

Even though the plants are resilient and can withstand the stress of relocation, in order to avoid stress on the plants, propagate them in their dormant state. The flowers will begin to bloom in the year following relocation, so you should not worry if they do not sprout flowers right after transplanting.

Black Eyed Susan seeds can be purchased from your local nursery and they are very easy to case for. These seeds can be sowed indoors 6 or 8 weeks before the last local frost date. They can be planted outdoors in the early spring in mid winter areas.

The Thinbergia Alata type of Black Eyed Susan is a climbing vine and thus needs to be supported by a trellis or arbor to help it grow upwards.

The plant should receive enough water and you can even add some fertilizer to the soil every month or so to help strengthen the vine. After the first frost you should pull out the plant.

You will not encounter any difficulties when caring for a Black Eyed Susan as they can grow in any kind of soil and do not need to be watered very often.

They are very disease and insect resistant even though many slugs and aphids eat the leaves. Most diseases are fungal in nature and they take out the nutrients from the soil. These problems can be cured with fungicides or insect repellents.

The Black Eyed Susan plants are long lasting and beautiful and they will attract bees, butterflies and even hummingbirds to your garden.

Black Eyed Susan flowers, climbing vine, dark seeded center, dormant state, insect repellents, local nursery, perennial flowering plants, subclass Asteridae