How to grow Black-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta · Rudbeckia

A tough daisy-like flower with golden-yellow rays around a dark brown cone, 0.6–1.2 m tall. A short-lived perennial or biennial that flowers in its first year from an early spring sowing, so it is often grown as an annual; it blooms from midsummer into autumn and attracts pollinators.

Quick facts

Type	Flower
Family	Asteraceae
Light	Full sun
Frost	does not tolerate frost
Soil for sowing	from 10 °C
Germination	12 days
Seedlings ready	50 days
Where it grows	Open ground

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 9 weeks before planting out.

Plant out in open ground about a week after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Seedlings	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage; balanced (NPK), 49 days into the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Best in full sun, more than 6 hours a day; it tolerates partial shade.

Soil

Moist, well-drained clay, loam or sandy soil; it is not fussy about pH. Moderate fertility gives the best flowers — too much nitrogen does not help.

Care

Sow indoors 8–10 weeks before the last frost; seedlings appear in about two weeks. Plant out after the last frost, 30–60 cm apart (plants spread 30–60 cm). Keep the soil evenly moist until the plants settle in; after that they tolerate drought and heat. Feed lightly when growth starts. Deadhead to keep it flowering, and cut the dead stems back between autumn and early spring. It self-seeds freely. Powdery mildew, leaf spots, aphids and slugs are the usual problems.

Pests and diseases of Black-eyed Susan

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.