Coneflowers color the fall garden

I remember the yellow coneflowers of my childhood — black-eyed Susans, we called them.
They were tall, gangly things that brightened the woods and meadows of the countryside. We didn’t include them in our gardens, for they were wild things that grew in the woods. We could have a bouquet of them for the picking. This black-eyed Susan was most likely Rudbeckia hirta.
Another native, the orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’), was selected by the Germans in 1937 and is now one of the most popular perennials in the world. Golden yellow daisy flowers, 3 to 5 inches wide with tall purplish-black cones, bloom all summer on plants that grow 2 feet tall and about as wide.
Our hardy perennial wildflower has become tamed, and as its name implies, it is a storm of gold in summer landscapes throughout the South. Most people, including myself, refer to the orange coneflower as black-eyed Susan.

Coneflower Facts
Coneflowers are members of the Asteraceae family, one of the world’s largest families of flowering plants. Most likely several plants from this family reside in your garden. Familiar family members include dandelion, chrysanthemum, coreopsis, sunflower, lettuce, cosmos, and daisies.
All members of the family bear composite flowers. What we would call an individual “flower” on a black-eyed Susan is, in fact, a dense cluster of many tiny flowers, called “florets.”
Two different kinds of florets, both disk and ray, are present in composites. The disk flowers occur in the raised area, or disk, and the ray flowers are a part of the structure we refer to as the petals.

Other Coneflowers
Some coneflowers are annual, some biennial, and some perennial. Most gardeners are familiar with the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), which is now available not only in purple, but also in yellow, pink and orange. Prairie coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), with its tall narrow cone and downward pointed ray petals, adds a different look to wildflower gardens and flower beds.
Gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta gloriosa) is a favorite for many gardeners and comes in several different cultivars.

Culture
Give coneflowers a sunny place and well-drained soil. Performance of hybrids is best in good soil improved with organic matter. Though appreciative of full sun and adequate moisture, they are adaptable to less than ideal circumstances. A light sprinkling of 6-6-6 or other slow-release, all-purpose fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season should be sufficient.

In the Garden
Plant coneflowers in masses or drifts to provide large areas of color. A very attractive grouping can be made using black-eyed Susans in front of the spiky blue flowers, such as Salvia “Indigo Spires.”
Coneflowers are also attractively paired with native grasses such as pink muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris), love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis), or switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Planted with grasses, they look much as they do in the meadows of rural America.
Coneflowers are important to a wildlife garden, for they attract butterflies and provide food for birds in winter. They are great for cutting gardens, providing many bouquets of bright, cheery flowers over a long period. Consider adding some adaptable coneflowers to your garden and look forward to many years of dependable summer color.
Marie Harrison is a Master Gardener Volunteer with the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Okaloosa County. Her books, “Gardening in the Coastal South,” “Southern Gardening, an Environmentally Sensitive Approach” and “Groundcovers for the South” are now available. You can contact her at her Web site www.mariesgarden.com, and also read gardening hints and other information of interest to gardeners.