Re: Rudbekia hirta





Valerie Lowery@ZEON
08/03/99 08:12 AM

Janis,

I'm impressed by your research!  I must tell you, however, that in my zone
6 garden in KY it did indeed self-sow.  While I was skeptical myself on
whether those huge blooms would return the following year (I was expecting
some stunted flowers or at least a reversion back to the species), they
indeed did with increased numbers.  I was certain that it was the seeds in
some cases because new plants came up where the original ones weren't the
previous year.

Having said that, few came back the third year, and I fault that to the
more aggressive purple coneflower that was grown side-by-side.  As we all
know, its offspring must have a 100% germination rate because I'm pulling
out plants every year.  And I guess I was guilty of pulling out quite a few
of the rudbekias because when young, they look an awfully lot like the
coneflowers and well, they met an untimely death by my hands.  Plus I
rearranged that part of my garden, so no doubt they were plowed under by
more "sophisticated" perennials that I bought.  I'm now reminded of how
wonderful they were (and drought hardy!) so I think I'll include these next
year as a companion to some ornamental grasses.

These are extremely easy from seed, which is how I started mine.  Since you
can start these this way, why is it not also logical that they could
self-sow?  I agree with the garden conditions playing a heavy role, as I'm
totally disgusted by the fact that my foxglove refuse to multiply
themselves despite others' successes.  So the best bet is to save the seeds
yourself before the finches eat them and start them indoors for guaranteed
blooms the following year.

Val in KY
zone 6a


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