It's mid August and you know what that means in a mid south garden

 Golden yellow flowers are everywhere.

Yes, it's composite time! Most of the yellow daisy like flowers in my garden are blooming or beginning to bloom. They excel in the sun and brighten the shadier parts of my garden.

Rudbeckia laciniata

When you garden in the middle south you learn to plant and appreciate these rough and tumble golden yellow beauties. Especially in our hot and dry summers.

The yellow composites keep this garden floriferous when the Phloxes are beginning to look puny, the Joes have faded and the ex-asters haven't broken into song. 

Rudbeckia hirta cultivar

"Some gardeners are snooty about yellow. I used to be one of them." wrote Carol Klein in an article about growing Rudbeckias.

I didn't need to learn to appreciate yellow or the Rudbeckias,  I am crazy about the entire genus! They're my go to late summer flowers. They're reliable, easy to grow, low maintenance and with the many different species to choose from, you can have flowers from June to frost.

Rudbeckia fulgida are notorious for spreading both vegetatively and by seed

More importantly, they don't fade or melt in the intense sunlight. 

Let's talk about sun light for a bit. Our sun isn't brighter in the south, it just feels that way because the angle of the sun strikes the earth more directly here (and other southern cities) than cities in the north. The closer you get to the Equator the more directly the sun strikes the earth.  I think this affects how we experience colors and frankly, we need intense colors to deal with the sun light.

 

 Does that mean we get stuck with yellow composites! I don't feel that way! I love them all, even the rambunctious ones and R fulgida var sullivanti is a thug!

I don't hold that against her, it was entirely my fault she practically took over the front garden.  She could plow down the best of plants and she did.  Now there's a kind of detente among the Rudbeckias and the other take care of themselves colonizing wildflowers! Editing is the key...and some years I do better than others! This is not a bad year.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' is a special Susan! It's not very aggressive and needs protection from its cousin. If you're not crazy about some of the golden yellows, you might want to give this one a try. The yellow flowers  are the same golden yellow, but, their rolled/quilled petals dim down the brightness and make this beauty shine.

 The statuesque Rudbeckia laciniata is a Clay and Limestone rough and tumble wildflower beauty that is tolerant of our hot and humid weather, but, it definitely needs an extra drink of water during our dry summer months. Clusters of showy daisy-like flower heads top the plant from late July to fall in my garden (Central South/Middle Tennessee, Zone 6b/7a). It's a favorite of the little bees.

RFvF might be my favorite of the Susans. The little bees love them, too.

Another Rudbeckia beauty is Rudbeckia fulgida var fulgida. Please don't confuse it with Miss Goldie. Trust me when I say that this Susan is choice, with smaller flowers on tall straight stems, shiny green foliage and a longer bloom time than Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'.  It's never been planted in the front garden, but, I think I've found the best spot~where Ms. Goldy won't over run it.

Rudbeckia triloba. It's a bushy, free-flowering annual/biennial that self sows as aggressively as Miss Goldie! Plant it where it can naturalize and pull the seedlings that have planted themselves where you don't want them. The daisy-like, golden-yellow flowers bloom on purplish stems from late summer to early fall and this plant can take the dry weather, although, it is much happier when they have regular rainfall.

These are the Rudbeckias blooming in my garden now, I treasure them all. Please, don't be like some gardeners and poo-poo the golden yellow flowers of summer. Embrace them, welcome them into your garden and celebrate all that they offer, you'll be happier and so will the pollinators and birds.

xoxogail

“How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun." Vincent Van Gogh

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

GBBD: August Is All About The Susans

Let me clarify that~It used to be all about the Susans!

Not so very long ago this garden was almost all about the Susans.  Rudbeckia fulgida didn't mind the shallow soil that was crowded by limestone bedrock and spread by seed and rhizome everywhere.  What was not to love about them. They were a beautiful mass of golden color from mid summer to fall; they never crowded out the day lilies that lived here first; and, they made me smile when ever I stepped into the garden or pulled into the drive.

I loved the genus Rudbeckia so much that I invited all the species plants (and a few cultivars) that were endemic to Middle Tennessee  to join R fulgida.

The first to join the party was R laciniata...a tall droopy beauty with fabulous presence. 



Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' was next.

The glorious gloriosa daisies~ R hirta cultivars~'Prairie Sun' and

 R hirta 'Cherry Brandy'  have stayed the course.

Rudbeckia triloba is fast becoming a favorite.  The flowers are smaller, but, the plant is a many branched beauty that's over four foot tall and still growing!

Another choice small flowered rudbeckia that I chanced upon a few years ago (blooming earlier than usual) is R  fulgida var fulgida. This is a keeper plant and I highly recommend it to any of you folks not so crazy about Susan yellow!

You're laughing and wondering what ever do I see that makes this plant different from Miss Goldie!  Trust me, she is stellar, with shiny, deep green foliage and smaller, refined blooms.  Much finer than  Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'.

She's a petite flower on a tall stem.  This rudbeckia, like all the others, provides seeds in the winter for birds and nectar for butterflies from late summer through frost.

But, pollinators and gardeners need more than yellow flowers. To the mix of beautiful Rudbeckias I've added New York Ironweed, 

 the Joes and Purple Coneflowers,

Phloxy phloxes like 'David's Lavender'

species P paniculata 

Coreopsis 'Star Cluster',

and the exotic Lantanas that bloom their best when the heat is really turned on.

The Susans are clearly Clay and Limestone's summer sizzling beauties and if you've heard me say this once, you've probably heard me say it a dozen times:  I cannot imagine gardening without them.  But, now, you'll hear me say, I cannot imagine gardening without the Susans and all their friends!

xxoogail

Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. It's celebrated on the 15th of every month,  when garden bloggers from all over the world share their garden blooms. So head over to Carol's to take the Mr Linky magic carpet ride to more gardens than you can imagine visiting in one day!  This is my August 2012 contribution. I hope you enjoy the Susans and friends.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.