Rudbeckia hirta 'Prairie Sun'

Name: Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun' - Black-Eyed Susan
Brand: Rudbeckia
SKU: 56728233116021
Price: 4.9 EUR
Availability: OutOfStock

€4,90

Organic

Sustainable

Locally grown

Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun' produces hundreds of daisy-like flowers in a single season, ranging from golden yellow to yellow-orange, with bright yellow edges opening in simple collars around a green center.

The petals are dual-colored — starting with a dark peach at the center and shading out into a butter yellow at the edge.

The leaves are oval and pointed, slightly serrated along the edges, and appear in basal tufts.

The stem leaves are smaller and sessile (without petioles), with a rounded, cordate base; their color is a bright, light green.

The flowers are quite large, attracting both butterflies and passersby to your garden.

Learn more about gardening with the Rudbeckia family:

ENG: How to grow rudbeckia (black-eyed susan)
FR: Les Rudbeckias

Discover other varieties of Rudbeckia: The Lesser Known Varieties

Flowering	July, August, September, October
Exposure	Full Sun
Frost Tolerance	-25°C to -30°C
Size	0.8m H x 0.4m W
Soil	Cool, Sandy
Origin	North America

€4,90

Out of stock

🪴9x9 cm

🚂 Ships across EU
🌱 Grown in our nursery

Easy to grow as an annual, this short-lived perennial quickly forms a medium-sized clump that readily self-seeds.
It prefers full sun and is content with ordinary, fairly fertile soil, which is fresh to occasionally dry.

Floral Morphology

The plant is a herbaceous perennial, though in many climates it behaves like a short-lived perennial or even an annual. Its stems are hairy and upright, supporting the flower heads in a way that maximizes visibility to pollinators, while its rough, lance-shaped leaves are adapted to conserve moisture and deter herbivory.

The floral collar is divided into two concentric zones of different colors — a bright yellow border surrounding a central orange-yellow zone. Interestingly, the hairs on the leaves and stems can also reflect light, slightly reducing leaf temperature and helping the plant survive in open, sunny prairies.

Reproductive Biology

From a reproductive standpoint, Rudbeckia hirta is prolific. The plant produces small, dry fruits called achenes, which often self-seed around the parent plant. This self-seeding habit, combined with its long blooming period from mid-summer to early fall, makes 'Prairie Sun' particularly resilient in gardens and wildflower plantings.

Its bright yellow flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and even some birds, highlighting its ecological role beyond simple ornamentation.

Ecology & Adaptations

The cultivar 'Prairie Sun' has been selected for its compact stature and consistently vibrant coloration, making it especially suitable for garden borders, prairie-style meadows, and pollinator-friendly landscapes. Unlike some taller Rudbeckia varieties that can flop over, 'Prairie Sun' maintains a tidy, upright habit that is both aesthetically pleasing and practical for small garden spaces.

Its genetic background reflects a balance between wild prairie hardiness and ornamental refinement, giving it both durability and visual appeal.

Other Names

Black-eyed Susan

It is a cultivar derived from Rudbeckia hirta, a short-lived perennial native to the United States. In the wild, this plant grows in prairies, pastures, and cultivated fields, where it is considered a weed.

The genus name honors Olof Rudbeck (1630–1702), Swedish botanist and founder of the Uppsala Botanic Garden, where Carl Linnaeus was once a professor of botany. The species name hirta means "hairy", a reference to the short bristles that cover the leaves and stems.

🏆 'Prairie Sun' is an All-America Selection winner in 2003 and a Gold Medal winner at the 2003 Fleuroselect trials in England.

🎨 All Rudbeckia species are dye plants (especially R. hirta and R. laciniata) due to the presence of flavonols in their tissues. The inflorescences alone produce yellow-orange colors, while the entire plant gives yellow-green hues.

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