2 more gorgeous pix from corgi.. who claims her garden isnt photo worthy .. lol ...

ken

I did it today!!! I dug up all the Goldstrum and replaced it with heliopsis Tuscan Sun. The Goldstrum has been temporarily discarded in a pile under my hateful Norway Maple. I have a neighbor who wants it and she’s welcome to it…it’s dead to me.

I didn’t experience any aphids this year or any previous year, so fingers crossed that trend continues. I picked up some Russian Sage and Joe Pye Weed too, hard to resist the fall sales! :-)

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a) , your use of color is always spectacular! I can’t wait to see what annuals you plant with Little Goldstar next year.

I looked for Tuscan Gold at the nursery but they didn’t have any so just purchased more Tuscan Sun. Bloom machine is right - I think the only thing I have that blooms longer is Rozanne geranium!

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 , thanks, but my gardens have definitely looked better, they’re looking pretty tired right now!

I dragged my husband to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens yesterday and was disappointed that most everything was past it’s prime but I should have expected that, given it’s September. I was very excited to see the massive Bottlebrush Buckeye they have - it’s huge, and they have a few smaller ones as well. I definitely want to get back there next year when they’re in bloom.

Hey @lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan are you still happy with your plantings of TS?

I was thrilled with my Goldstrum. It completely filled the raised cedar bed it was in and provided a spectacular huge displaly of flowers most of the summer.

Hey @rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a), TS is a great plant, but I do consider replacing it often. As you experienced, I too get those nasty red aphids all over the stems - they are so disgusting! And this past year the bunnies ate them to the ground, so I didn’t even get to experience their beauty all season.

But they’re hard to beat for longevity; they bloom from mid-June just about through September for me. What other yellow perennial would provide all-summer-long blooms?? I can’t think of a single one.

Yup I cant abide plants being overrun with aphids and invariably, for me, heliopsis get aphids.

The red aphids are particularly gross; I don surgical gloves and then run my fingers up and down the stems, smooshing the life out of as many of the little b@stards as I can. My gloves up looking like part of a crime scene, all stained in red.

Just a small note on the nomenclature. It's GoldstURm rather than GoldstRUm. It's a German cultivar, hence the name.

thanks for adding, floral, I always winced somehow when reading...

think of golden storm (to which "Goldsturm" translates to roughly), then you will have no problem placing the "r" correctly

auf Wiedersehen, Lin ;-)

I don't see much Rudbecia "Goldsturm" around here any more, possibly because of disease problems, though I did notice numerous excellent plantings in New England in early fall.

R. "Goldblitz" is a similar form that's earlier-flowering and said to bloom the first year from seed.

https://www.fleuroselect.com/trials-and-awards/awarded-varieties/variety/goldblitz

I am always impressed by the vigour of "Tuscan Sun". The one you see here has been in this locale for a few years now, in an area overrun with Buckthorn, wild grasses, Goldenrod and "Dog Strangling Vine" and yet it more than holds it own. It gets no supplemental water (although in this rain drenched summer thus far it doesnt need any ;)).

"Tuscan Sun" is a bloomin' machine for much of the summer for me, as is "Venus" -- they don't slow down until end of July-early August, and even then after some tidying up they'll bloom lightly.

Here's an old photo from summer 2021 of "Tuscan Sun" with "Venus" in the back; the plants are much fuller now:

This is the truth about 'Goldsturm'. Goldsturm was a natural variety of Rudbeckia fulgida. It was Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii. It has now been elevated to species status as Rudbeckia sullivantii. It's interesting that people can slap a name on a natural variety and market it, and make bold claims that make people drool. I want to look up the history of Tuscan Sun and Venus too.

My Tuscan Suns are all gone - the rabbits ate them to the ground last year and not a single one of them returned this year.

However, Goldsturm (”storm” - easy to remember that way, thanks!) seedlings continue to pop up everywhere and annoy me to no end. I wish the rabbits would eat those instead…

That is interesting @lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan as the stand pictured just above is basically in the "wild", with rabbits and deer all around and they do chow down on other plants and yet this TS has remained untouched..fingers crossed.

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a), perhaps there are other delicacies more to their liking nearby! My neighborhood rabbits also ate my Pow Wow white echinacea last year - six of them - and those didn’t come back this spring either. I started using one of my kids’ old wrist rocket sling shots whenever I see a rabbit, but my aim isn’t very good. 😩

but my aim isn’t very good

Practice makes perfect!

(Wouldn't the corgis keep the animals at bay?)

I've been battling those nasty large red aphids that TOTALLY will cover heliopsis from top to bottom, they're disgusting! Heliopsis give too much to my garden to let go of, though I now must restrict reseeding for there being too many plants to be blasting with the garden hose. Some seedlings are every bit as nice or nicer than named selections!

Yup @FrozeBudd_z3/4. About 10 years ago I had TSun alternating between Bobo hydrangeas. They i.e. the TS were so amazing in terms of 'floriferousness' but I just couldn't abide all the aphids and so I pulled them.

@rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a), the corgs would love it if I let them off-leash to patrol the grounds, but if they saw a deer or rabbit, they’d be gone; they’re very prey driven and they don’t listen very well, particularly my female, who is younger and feistier than her stout older brother!! 😃