Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) Seed Packet
Plant Specifications
Bloom Period: Summer, Fall
Size: 1' - 3' tall
Uses: Pollinator gardens, Dry areas
Packaged: 2025
Sun Exposure: Full Sun, Partial Sun
Moisture: Dry, Average
Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Rocky
Seeds per Pack: ~300
Seed Packet Guidelines
Black-eyed Susan is a native annual to short-lived perennial, often acting as a biennial (germinates one year, flowers the next). It is without a doubt one of the easiest native plants to grow, and one of the showiest too.
Rudbeckia hirta flowers heaviest in summer, with some plants sporadically flowering into fall, sometimes up to first frost. The flowers are pollinated by short-tongued solitary bees, moths, and small butterflies. It is a wonderful flower for attracting many small insects that easily escape notice.
The Black-eyed Susan produces bountiful seed, which lends itself well to feeding native birds. Primarily goldfinches will pluck fresh seeds from the flower heads before seed is dried. Small songbirds and little mammals also enjoy the seeds.
This Rudbeckia species is a "pioneer" or early successional plant of grasslands and prairies, meaning it produces ample seed and spreads itself well in areas of low plant competition, or sprouts from soil disturbance. Populations of pioneer species usually decline in population over time as more long-lived perennial or shrub species take root.
If you want blooms quicker while waiting on perennials to develop in a planting, Black-eyed Susans will give you almost immediate color. Seeds can be sown on open ground or in containers. Collecting and saving even a paltry amount of Rudbeckia hirta seed would net many, many years of plants for future populations.