Tom's Life Bits

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Black-eyed Susans add bright spot
By Catherine Bollinger, CorrespondentComment on this story
I like to grow flowers and herbs around the edges of my vegetable garden for several reasons. First, they attract pollinators and other beneficial insects --ladybugs, lacewings -- to the garden. Second, I like to think that the strong scents of the herbs and flowers confuse varmints such as deer and raccoons so that they don't notice the vegetables. Third, I get a convenient source of flowers for the table and herbs for the cooking pot. And, finally, I think the edge beds dress up a garden area that otherwise looks completely utilitarian.

I added black-eyed Susans to this edge border last year, growing the plants from seeds I obtained from the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Several species in the Rudbeckia genus are often labeled black-eyed Susans. Mine are Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii. With no supplemental water during last year's drought, they added zip to my garden for more than a month. But now I realize they also busily spread their seeds through adjacent unused beds.

Without any work on my part, I now have a black-eyed Susan patch full of gorgeous yellow-orange flowers with deep brown centers that have been blooming nonstop for a month and show no signs of slowing down. They get full sun and no extra water, but collect plenty of admiration from human and insect visitors. Gardeners with more refined tastes may find this native wildflower too coarse, but black-eyed Susans will always be welcome in my yard, wherever they decide to pop up.

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