There’s a new rudbeckia that I’m itching to try called ‘Denver Daisy’. It was created in honor of Denver, Colorado’s 150th anniversary last summer. ‘Denver Daisy’ grows about 20 inches tall with large, golden-yellow flowers with a dark red ring. The plant caught my eye at the Boerner Botanical Garden in August.
I’m a little hesitant to order seeds, however, because things didn’t exactly go as planned with this pretty flower. Officials distributed 300,000 seed packets in hopes that the flowers would sprout up and be seen all over Denver during the celebration. Unfortunately, the city was soon inundated with calls from people who were having trouble getting the seeds to germinate. And they couldn’t blame the problem on rookie gardeners because many of the calls came from experienced master gardeners. A Denver city councilman estimated that only one-third of the (nearly) 3 million seeds germinated.
‘Denver Daisy’ was bred from one of my favorite cultivars, ‘Prairie Sun’, and the native rudbeckia hirta. It has excellent heat tolerance and sturdy stems.
Most people were trying to sprout ‘Denver Daisy’ outdoors where it’s tougher to keep seeds and seedlings evenly moist. Perhaps by sprouting them indoors I’ll have better luck.
I guess there’s only one way to find out.