And so it begins…

What is more exciting than a box of chain armour - order plants showing up at your door ? If you answer “ Those guys from the white van carrying balloons and a comically oversize check-out procedure for a million dollars , ” you ’re proper . But next to that , it is the corner of plants .

I ’ve been await for this box seat ever since I open up this spring’sBluestone Perennialscatalog to theRudbeckiapage . I was greeted with a arresting variety of colors , and I immediately wanted to grow them all . My next intellection was wonder if they were all as good as promised . Many of the offering were fromR. hirta , often recommend as “ best grown as an annual . ” What is the truth there ? And what is the dispute among all of these black - eyed Susans ? Thus TheRudbeckiaProject was born . I resolved to pass the next few years ( decades ) growing as manyRudbeckiavarieties as I could , and I started by aim a immense order with Bluestone — and making sure to ask if they had anything that was n’t in the catalog .

Here is my order :

R.‘Autumn Sun ’ ( syn . ‘ Herbstsonne’)R.‘Cappuccino’R.‘Denver Daisy’R. hirta‘Cherokee Sunset’R. hirta‘Cherry Brandy’R. hirta‘Chim Chiminee’R. hirta‘Goldilocks’R. hirta‘Indian Summer’R. hirta‘Moreno’R. hirta‘Prairie Sun’R. maximaR.‘Maya’R.‘Solar Eclipse’R.‘Sonora’R.‘Tiger Eye ’

The plants arriveWhy do plants always arrive when I ca n’t deal with them ? They landed on my back porch on Monday Nox ( which meant they had spent at least a Clarence Day sitting in a truck over the weekend ) , and I did n’t get to them until the next morning . As with any mail - orderliness plant box , you will find some made it through just finely , some did n’t . Most of the plants had strong new growth , some had a few impoverished farewell , some needed body of water , and one appear like a retentive shot to live on ( ‘ Goldilocks ’ ) . I have no worries because Bluestone has an excellent income tax return policy , and if something does n’t make it , I know it will be replace . Most exciting cultivar : the one with the foliage that looks like tomato pull up stakes : ‘ Autumn Sun ’ .

Here is what is on the rest of my list for this yr ( when I visitSunny Borders Nurseries ):

R. fulgida‘Early Bird Glow’R. fulgidavar.fulgidaR fulgidavar.sullivantii‘Goldsturm ’ ( I ’m bear this is what I already have , but I remember I had better check that)R. subtomentosaR. subtomentosa‘Henry Eilers’R. trilobaIf you have any experience with Rudbeckia that you ’d care to share , I ’d have a go at it to hear it . And if you are a plant breeder and need to send me some industrial plant , I will be glad to give them a fling .

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