Rudbeckia
Prairie Sun

I’ve grown this Rudbeckia variety for years and it never fails to impress me with its remarkable vigor. Unlike traditional brown-eyed Susans, Prairie Sun is a lighter shade of gold with pale green centers, which gives it a fresh, modern twist. Each plant produces a profusion of stems topped with sizable flowers, creating a striking show throughout the summer and fall. An All-America Selections (AAS) Award Winner in 2003 and the flowers can produce a light-green dye. Come late summer, when the flowers go to seed, do not cut them back as the pithy stems provide a great habitat for certain beneficial bees and the seedheads are a source of food for birds. Did you know there are some species of bees that burrow inside the hollow stems to lay eggs, emerging in spring?