Experienced grower's notes on Black-eyed Susan

I've been growing plants seriously for over fifteen years and Black-eyed Susan remains a reliable favourite. For anyone starting out: the most critical thing is avoiding any fertiliser which would favour grasses over flowers. Everything else follows from that.

annual weed competition overwhelming slow-establishing flowers is the challenge that trips up most beginners and some experienced growers too. I've been growing mine in a naturalistic border at the edge of a garden for three seasons now and the results are consistently good. wide seasonal succession from spring to autumn is what makes it worth coming back to year after year. seed setting and dispersal in late summer is when I show it off — it earns its place fully then.