Common Name: coneflower
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 3.00 to 4.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 2.50 feet
Bloom Time: August to October
Bloom Description: Yellow rays surround brown cone
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Good Cut
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Clay Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates hot and humid summers, drought and a somewhat wide range of soils. In optimum growing conditions, plants will naturalize by self-seeding to form colonies.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Rudbeckia grandiflora, commonly called coneflower or rough coneflower, is a slender upright rhizomatous perennial that is native to dry open ground in the western Mississippi Valley from Missouri and Kansas south to Texas and Louisiana. It typically grows to 3-5' tall on strong stems that do not need staking. Basal leaves (to 6" long) have long petioles, but the much shorter upper stem leaves are stalkless. Leaves and stems are hairy. Each stalk is topped by a single, terminal, showy, parasol-like flowerhead featuring 8-12 bright yellow rays (each to 2 1/4" long) which surround and droop downward from a large, upright, brownish-purple center cone (to 1 1/4" tall).
Genus name honors Olof Rudbeck (1630-1702) Swedish botanist and founder of the Uppsala Botanic Garden in Sweden where Carl Linnaeus was professor of botany.
Specific epithet means large-flowered.
'Sundance' is a seed strain introduced into commerce by Jelitto Perennial Seeds. It typically grows to 4' tall. Deep green leaves with contrasting yellow flowers provide showy late summer to fall bloom to sunlit areas. Seedheads may be left in place after bloom for the birds.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Susceptible to powdery mildew and leaf spot. Watch for slugs and snails on young plants.
Uses
Vigorous late-blooming native wildflower. An excellent addition to naturalized areas, wildflower meadows, prairies, cottage gardens, native plant gardens and borders.