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I find it odd that many of my established perennials didn’t survive winter, and yet this has been one of my best years for returning rudbeckias. These would all be plants that I sprouted from seed in early 2014 and planted in last summer’s garden.
Most of them appear to be ‘Autumn Colors’ or ‘Cherokee Sunset’ cultivars. In May I happily transplanted them throughout the yard to fill in bare spots.
Unfortunately the persistent rain in June and July caused a lot of the returning rudbeckias to contract bacterial diseases, and they got wilty or, in some cases, shriveled up and died. The rudbeckias I sprouted from seed in February are faring much better with a few exceptions (‘Sahara’, I’m talking to you).
