Rudbeckia

Value to bees

Nectar

High

Pollen

High

As a honey crop

Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus

Which bees, and why

Worked by honey bees, bumblebees, small solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies together. The flat open head is a landing platform with nothing hidden.

Small open florets on a raised cone with fully exposed nectar — accessible to everything.

Worth knowing

Good for both, over a long autumn window, from a plant that requires essentially nothing.

Flowering

In flower

August to October (northern hemisphere)

Eight to ten weeks from late summer into the first frosts, covering the autumn gap.

When nectar flows

Steady and exposed. The central cone is many small fertile florets opening in a ring that advances outward over weeks.

Year-to-year variation

Extremely dependable and drought-tolerant once established.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun to light shade, moist but well-drained soil. Tolerates heavier ground than most prairie perennials.

Size

60-90 cm.

Native range

Eastern and central North America.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Meadow or wildflower area, Containers and window boxes

• Choose the plain single-flowered forms. The double and pompom rudbeckias have converted the fertile cone into sterile petals and are worth very little.
• Leave the seed heads standing over winter — goldfinches strip them and they look superb in frost.
• Divide every three or four years to keep it vigorous.

What it looks like

An upright clump-forming perennial with rough dark green leaves and flat golden-yellow daisy flowers surrounding a prominent domed black-brown central cone.