03
July
2012

Rudbeckias Available Now

rudbeckiaOur Summer Rudbeckias are all ready to go, just in time for outdoor entertaining. These long lasting flowers work well in the hotter months of the season.

Over the past few years, black-eyed susans have hit the market with a broader array of colors and heights. Now you can get a variety of designs going, whether you are working with decor containers, street plantings or a large landscape bed that could use a little drama.

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‘Toto Eye Gold’ is the rudbeckia everyone knows and loves, and this is a great plant to begin with if you are experimenting with rudbeckias for summer sales or plantings. The blooms stand about 16 inches or so from the crown of the plant, and each one gives up a generous bouquet of color. If you plant them a little tight to each other, they’ll form a sea of gold.

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If you’re ready to expand your choices, we recommend ‘Toto Lemon’; it offers a more sunshine yellow with a dark brown eye that adds fantastic contrast to a design. For a rougher, country style landscape choose ‘Toto Rustic’. You’ll find it has that charming sunflower-like look that people enjoy during July and August.

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Believe it or not, rudbeckias pair up well with other plants, especially long, tall ones. Here is a recipe for Fountain of Gold, which combines a warm summer grass, Pennisetum ‘Vertigo’, with the lower-growing rudbeckias. Notice how nicely the brown of the grass is complemented by the brown in the eyes of the black-eyed susans.

 FOUNTAIN OF GOLD: (Yield: 10 square feet)

  • (3) PEN ‘Vertigo’
  • (5) RUD ‘Toto Gold’ 

Plant the pennsetums together in the center of the bed; next, plant the rudbeckias evenly around the grass. The pennisetums will form an overflowing fountain of foliage emptying into the surrounding sea of gold. You can extend the golden pool to fit your bed by adding (8) pots of rudbeckia for each (10) square foot area.

If your bed is large enough, add another three pots of pennisetum to create a giant center fountain; go with two or three smaller fountains if your garden is more asymmetrical.