Plant Image Data Base                                         

   Rudbeckia fulgida

                                                        Orange Coneflower or Black-Eyed Susan

• Form
  • perennial
  • maturing at 3' tall by 3' wide under optimum conditions, but half that size in poor, dry soils
  • upright to radiating clump growth habit
• Culture
  • adaptable to poor soils
  • low maintenance
  • prune dead stems back to ground every late winter
  • Daisy Family, with few disease or pest problems
• Foliage
  • dark green
• Flowers
  • yellow-orange petals with black-brown centers, at terminals of continuously branching stems
  • each flower lasts two to four weeks
  • effective for at least three to four weeks during July-late September, depending on the heat and drought of the season which induces earlier flowering

• Function
  • mass plantings, borders, entranceways, beds, naturalized sunny areas, and urban sites with poor soils
• Assets
  • spectacular yellow-black flowers may adorn the plant all summer long, but predominate in mid to late summer
  • ornamental winter effect of persistent dead-heads
  • urban tolerant (especially to drought)
  • naturalizes by self-sowing
• Purpose
  • perennial that is excellent as a late summer focal point
• Summary
  • known as a very popular perennial noted for its magnificent summer or early autumn bloom period of yellow-petaled, black-centered flowers that rise above the dark green foliage, good as specimen plants, in mass plantings, or in rows

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