Stunning!!! I love that first picture!!! Such a good shade of red!!

It's actually much brighter than it looks in the photo. It's a true red to my eyes. It reminds me of the red coreopsis I also traded. It's blooming now too. I wish I had planted these together. The rudbeckia returned after getting a bad case of the powdery mildew last year. Only one plant survived all summer for seed collection. But all three from last year returned.

The coreopsis.

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I love that coreopsis also but I am a sucker for red flowers that is true red flowers. The second and third photo remind me of rudbeckia cappucino. (i spelled that wrong)

Thanks for sharing Token, Im glad I decided to sow some this year!!

Even your hybrids look great in my opionion..

Im hoping mine will kick around for a few years, must of my rudbeckia hirtas usually last that long before they grow tired or something.

Silverkelt

Token, Are these a true perennial? If they are not, can you divide the plants to keep them and their color true since the seeds don't germinate true? I was just wondering...........thanks!

This is one hardy little plant! I sowed it last year, never got it planted out, health problems interfered. I had a bunch of sprouts in a small foam cup.

In the fall when I finally was able to do something with them, I put each sprout into its own foam cup and kept 14 or 16 of them going all winter long, indoors in a south facing window. They're still there, more health stuff got in the way again, but I'm hoping I will be able to plant them out this week-end.

So my point here is, if you get good color from your plants and you would like to try keeping it for next year, it might be possible to pot them up and grow them indoors over the winter. They were perfectly happy to be indoors, and grew slowly but steadily for me. Since they are most likely not perennials in my zone I am going to try at least a couple of them indoors because I expect them to grow to a good size and I would only have room for one or two, but it would certainly be worth the try if I get good color from them.

Mary

My little sprouts Wintersown 08-09in a half-gallon jug, and the way they look today waiting to be planted out. I can hardly believe they are doing so well. I hope I get color as wonderful as you got. Mary

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Beautiful token.

What did you get the first year?

I have some planted, no buds so far.

beautiful! In fact the two offspring are just as pretty as the parent.
Tammy

Ellen, last year, they were more brown than red. Maybe it was the drought, the temperatures, or something else.

I don't think they would be considered a true perennial. A bunch of Rudbeckia hirta overwintered for me this year, and it was cold for a bit. They all had severe leaf damage, but new growth was evident in early March. I just cut away all the dead foliage. R. hirta is one of those odd ones. It might survive a year or two. It might last 4 months. I had another survive with huge blooms.

I like them!

I also like the ones from collected seeds. I like the yellow with the little bit of red/burganday toward the middle.

I sure hope mine get growing soon. SOme are still pretty small. I remember last ws season they were later to bloom but they were one of my best performers.

I am off to the store to get more rud seeds. I need to direct sow some or ws/spring sow some.

Karen

Very nice! Only one of my CB seeds sprouted this year, but you can bet it will get planted!

I like that red flower. They are cherry brandy rudbeckia? Nice color..so they will come back? What do the seeds look like?

I like them too - all of them.

This is my 1st year WS'ing them and planting from seed.

Yesterday I saw first bud about ready to bloom!

I like the foliage too.

I'll let you know how the Cheery one turns out.

I like them too - all of them.

This is my 1st year WS'ing them and planting from seed.

Yesterday I saw first bud about ready to bloom!

I like the foliage too.

I'll let you know how the Cherry one turns out.

Token,
Beautiful photo! From what I was told Cherry Brandy comes true from seed. Do you have other Rudbeckias hirta varieties? If there are other Rudbeckias nearby, that would explain the baby variation. If not, I was lied to, lol.
Remy

They are lovely, I like the bicolors too.

I like all the sports too!!

BUT - I'll take all the bad things you said about Cherry Brandy!! Mine failed to return.

Actually, can't totally blame the plant (but I will). Plants need to be strong strong strong and durable to survive in my gardens. We'll have a mild winter and then BAM - cold weather out of no where (actually the west or north usually). If they survive that crap, the spring lasts about 8 minutes and then it's on to skin cancer summer - blazing hot and little cloud cover.

The Irish Eyes I had planted in the same area returns like a champ - needs staking.

Giving up on Cherry Brandy here.

((Santa Rosa Gardens had a clearance sale (sorry to admit - Trudi) and I received the MOST wonderful plants!! They'll go where the CB was.))

Maya was planted in an even more inhospitable spot and it's lovin' life.

Giving up on Cherry Brandy here. Did I mention that???

Happy Gardening -

Remy, I have all kinds of R. hirta, so cross pollination was expected, but not so quickly. I really thought I would get some solid reds before they reverted to yellow. But, there are others out there that have not bloomed yet, so who knows. I bet all the red ones will end up with the traders instead of me. ;)

Cherry Brandy on Sale at TM
http://www.tmseeds.com/product/Rudbeckia_x_hirta_seeds_Cherry_Brandy/Clearance_Sale

Here is a link that might be useful: CB on sale at TM

Mine must have seeded over. Mine look a very deep red. I wsa surprised when they opened since I did not plant any out in the gardens this year. I did save a few seeds and plant them in a container. I just transferred them into the ground. I hope those do as well!

They're beautiful, Token. I'm glad you got pretty ones this year.

By contrast, I had pretty ones last year and they look like crap this year. (2nd year plants). Hirtas usually last into the 2nd year for me, but don't always make it through that whole summer.

Karen

Little late to this one but looked out and saw mine blooming still in its jug. I had 3 plants I'd bought from Bluestone; none came back or if the ones in front did, something is blocking it. Think they all died.

Harvested seeds from a couple like these:

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And got this from ws'ing this year. I kind of like it but sure wasn't anything like what I expected.

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I didn't join the gang last year and try this rudbeckia, but I did recieve soem seeds in trade (maybe your swap token?) and the plants have been healthy growers. No blooms, I keep checking because I want to see if any flowers come true!!!

Folks, T&M has the Cherry Brandy seeds on sale..check their website. Tom, I ordered 4 pkt. a few days ago, also Prairie sun rudbeckia and Morello cherry lupine seeds. My T&M catalog was lost, but it was found today, in a tote bag I had 2 weeks ago. I knew it had to be around here somewhere.

I have never been able to get ANY of these kinds of rudbeckias to more than a summer. I have had no flowers yet and slow growth from the one planted this year. I really love them, but this summer's heat - already about 2 months of straight 90's, melts 'em.

I love the Cherry Brandy, was given a packet of seed from Ishareflowers but did not get around to Wsing them this year!

My Rudbeckia hirta is sometimes annual, sometimes biennial, and I had one plant that actually came back for a 3rd year. It seems like they are more likely to return if they are planted in a spot with good drainage?

July 25th and I am still waiting for flower buds to open - all my many other rudbeckia have been flowering for weeks (we've had an early season on most everyting this year) But from the looks of the buds, I do not think my CB plants from trade seed will be red. No matter...I am just interested in what they WILL be!!