Flowers and Plants
Gardening Guides
Central Plains Gardening
Rudbeckia Laciniata Enlivens Late-Season Shady and Sunny Sites
Give long-blooming, towering cutleaf coneflower room to spread in U.S. gardens for maximum rewards
Yellow is a top color for attracting pollinators, which is probably why it’s so often seen in wild landscapes. Yellow-flowering cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), a pollinator attractor and butterfly host plant, is a fairly adaptable and very tall native flower that sports a long bloom time through the heat of late summer and early fall.
This perennial tends to spread, especially in looser soil like loam or silty loam, so you should consider if this behavior is right for you. Large areas in shade where little else grows, especially to such heights, or open, moist areas where it can do its thing most happily may be the best places for it.
This perennial tends to spread, especially in looser soil like loam or silty loam, so you should consider if this behavior is right for you. Large areas in shade where little else grows, especially to such heights, or open, moist areas where it can do its thing most happily may be the best places for it.
Photo by titanium22
Distinguishing traits. Cutleaf coneflower has deeply cut leaves up to 6 inches long. These leaves extend 3 to 6 feet up each plant’s many stems to give this perennial outstanding textural presence in a designed garden.
Its long bloom time can extend more than two months on a mature plant. Pollinators definitely come to visit, and it is a host plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly.
How to use it. Given its size, as well as its ability to spread by rhizomes (aggressively in loam, more modestly in clay), cutleaf coneflower works best toward the back of a border or as an architectural specimen among grasses and shorter flowers. It stands up fairly well to winds but in the open benefits from being buttressed by tallgrasses like switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). In the shade or partly shaded edges, it may reach for the sun.
Distinguishing traits. Cutleaf coneflower has deeply cut leaves up to 6 inches long. These leaves extend 3 to 6 feet up each plant’s many stems to give this perennial outstanding textural presence in a designed garden.
Its long bloom time can extend more than two months on a mature plant. Pollinators definitely come to visit, and it is a host plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly.
How to use it. Given its size, as well as its ability to spread by rhizomes (aggressively in loam, more modestly in clay), cutleaf coneflower works best toward the back of a border or as an architectural specimen among grasses and shorter flowers. It stands up fairly well to winds but in the open benefits from being buttressed by tallgrasses like switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). In the shade or partly shaded edges, it may reach for the sun.
Planting notes. In full sun, cutleaf coneflower needs consistent moisture in soil that won’t dry out. In shade to part shade, it can do fine in medium soil. It’s native to poorly drained fields, bottomlands, stream edges and woodland edges, so consider this when siting the plant.
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Botanical name: Rudbeckia laciniata
Common names: Cutleaf coneflower, green-headed coneflower
Origin: Native from Montana south to Arizona and east from Maine to Florida
Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone)
Water requirement: Medium to moist; prefers consistent moisture
Light requirement: Full sun (in moist soil) to 75 percent shade (in medium soil)
Mature size: 3 to 9 feet tall and 3 or more feet wide
Benefits and tolerances: Attracts pollinators; hosts silvery checkerspot butterfly
Seasonal interest: Blooms in midsummer to early fall
When to plant: Potted or bare-root plants in midspring to late fall; seeds in late fall through midwinter