Common Name: Deam's coneflower
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Illinois to Ohio
Zone: 3 to 9
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 2.50 feet
Bloom Time: July to October
Bloom Description: Orange-yellow ray florets surrounding dark purple-brown central cone
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy, Good Cut, Good Dried
Attracts: Birds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Clay Soil, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil, Urban Conditions
Culture
Easily grown in dry to medium, organically rich to average, well-drained soils in full sun. Best bloom occurs in full sun, although plants will tolerate some light shade. Plants prefer consistent moisture throughout the growing season, with some tolerance for drought once established. Tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions including dry soil, clay soil, and urban environments. Good air circulation is appreciated. Deadhead spent flowers to encourage additional bloom. Plants slowly spread in the garden by rhizomes.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Rudbeckia fulgida is a herbaceous perennial native to the eastern United States which occurs in both dry and moist soils in open woods, glades and thickets. An upright, rhizomatous, clump-forming, free-blooming coneflower which typically grows to 3' tall, often forming colonies in the wild. Features daisy-like flowers (to 2.5" across) with yellow rays and brownish-purple center disks. Prolific bloom production over a long mid-summer to fall bloom period. Oblong to lanceolate, medium green foliage. Good cut flower. The flowers are attractive to butterflies and other insect pollinators. Birds eat the seeds.
Variety deamii is native to stream banks, roadside ditches, and wooded ridges with a very scattered distribution in southern Illinois, central and southern Indiana, and southwestern Ohio. It features densely hairy stems and basal leaves roughly twice as long as wide with coarsely crenate (scalloped) margins. The cauline (stem) leaves are noted as being relatively similar in size to the basal foliage. The morphological characteristics distinguishing the accepted varietals of R. fulgida are quite variable both between and within populations.
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.
The specific epithet fulgida means "shining" or "glistening".
The infraspecific epithet deamii honors Charles C. Deam (1865-1953), American botanist, forester, and author who first collected this varietal in 1916.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems, but aphids, powdery mildew, downy mildew, aster yellows, and leaf spot diseases can appear. Deer tend to avoid this plant.
Uses
Mass in bold drifts in the perennial border, cottage garden, meadow, rain garden, native plant garden or naturalized area. Provides excellent bloom and color for the late summer. Good cut flower.