Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima.
An emblematic indigenous plant of the prairies and roadsides of eastern North America, known in the English-speaking world by the poetic name Black-Eyed Susan. It marks the turn of the season — flowering from July through the first October frosts, where many annuals exhaust themselves in August, hence the French qualifier tardive ("late") in the garden. The pulcherrima variety ("the most beautiful" in Latin) carries the largest flowers in the group: wide golden-yellow daisies 7-10 cm across, with petals well spread around a velvety brown-black conical centre that earned it its nickname.
A plant 60-90 cm tall, with downy stems (hirta means "hairy"), particularly tolerant of drought and poor soils — precious qualities in late-summer gardens when the showers grow scarce. An important resource for pollinators: monarch butterflies on their migration to Mexico, solitary bees, hoverflies, and later goldfinches and juncos that feed on the seeds all autumn and into winter if you leave the dry stems standing. Used traditionally by several First Nations as a medicinal plant — root decoctions for sore throats and colds, poultices for wounds — a use that recalls echinacea, its cousin in the same large botanical group.
Grower's tip: Technically biennial or a short-lived perennial, but it flowers from the very first year if sown early enough — making it one of the rare perennials that can be treated as an annual in Québec. No cold stratification needed; the seeds germinate readily at 18-22 °C in one to two weeks. Sow on the surface (they need light to germinate) without covering. It then self-seeds generously, scattering its seeds on the wind in autumn — a single sowing often gives a lasting garden presence for years.
- Open-pollinated. Biennial or short-lived perennial, most often treated as an annual. Insect-pollinated; crosses with other nearby rudbeckias.
- Height: 60-90 cm.
- Flowering: July to October.
- Exposure: full sun.
- Ordinary to poor, well-drained soil. Tolerates drought very well once established. Space plants 30-40 cm apart.
- Start indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost for flowering in the first year, or direct-sow as soon as the soil can be worked (May in Québec). Self-seeds generously.
