How to Grow the Beautiful Rudbeckia

Growing the rudbeckia “Rising Sun” flowering perennial pollinator plant.

While dashing through the local nursery, I spotted this pretty yellow flowering plant. It was a Rudbeckia called “Rising Sun”. It had a couple of flowers and a few more buds. It went into my new little flower garden.

In a Nutshell

Rudbeckia is a perennial. It should be dug up and divided, once it is large, to propagate. It is easy to grow, after making sure it has plenty of water in the beginning. Grow in full sun, deadhead old flowers, and enjoy watching bees visit the flowers.

When planting, I added some bone meal and fish fertilizer along with compost to the hole. I do that generally for all transplants. I planted the new garden in May, so it was hot, but not horrible. I made sure to water the new plants every morning because we were getting no rain back then. I added mulch to help.

Flowering Rudbeckia plant
Rudbeckia plant

Because I went out every morning to water, it gave me the opportunity to view changes. It seemed to bloom with at least one new big yellow bloom each day! The plant grew and bloomed like mad, and is now just gorgeous.

Bees Love Rudbeckia

I was hoping to attract bees and butterflies and this plant is perfect. Each morning I see little bees crawling around the flowers. One day I saw a bee sleeping on one of the petals! He was resting or something because he was not moving, but he was not dead. On the photo above you can see a bee on one of the big flower’s petals.

Deadheading and Propagation

Rudbeckia needs to be deadheaded. As soon as I read this, I went out and cut off the old blooms. I brought them inside to see if I could get some seeds from the center when they dry fully. Deadheading helps the plant put energy into creating new blooms and not caring for the old, wilting ones. Many flowering plants benefit from this.

My Rudbeckia even survived us having a new roof installed. If you have ever gone through roof replacement, you know what a mess it makes. I was so worried about my garden and yard, but most things came through okay.

Rudbeckia spreads by rhizomes underground. In other words, when it gets too full, it can be dug up and split into two or more plants. This is one way to propagate. Every 4-5 years or so, or when the plant is really full and not growing as many flowers, it means it needs to be divided. This is similar to peonies. I remember doing just that to divide my beautiful peonies when I grew them in New Hampshire.

Also, apparently the rudbeckia can grow from seed. Each flower will drop little seeds from that center brown “eye”. So the flowers I cut will be saved to see if I can get seeds.

I would love to link to this info, but all the sites I visited had WAY too many ads! I won’t send my readers to them, but if you search for this info, you will find it elsewhere.

I’ve never grown the rudbeckia before, but I truly love it. At some point I will buy more of them to put into the landscape. This plant came from Lindley’s Nursery in New Smyrna Beach.

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Plant Flowering Things and Bees Will Come

Planting things that flower to attract bees to the garden.

We all want to feed the bees by having bee-loving flowers in the yard. But another good reason to have the bees come to your plants is to entice them to pollinate the vegetables growing in your garden. I would not be eating eggplant, tomatoes or watermelon (soon!) from my garden without the bees coming to pollinate the flowers.

watermelon growing on the vine in my garden.

If you are wondering which flowers to plant to attract bees, I know the feeling. The general answer is to simply plant things that will flower, and that includes vegetables and herbs. I have an excellent link that goes to the UF site, at the bottom of this page, for Florida residents who want to start planting for pollinators.

Bees like open type flowers that contain pollen. They also have flower color preferences. Read on…

All photos on this page are my own of bees visiting plants in my yard

Herbs

Don’t overlook herbs, which are quite simple to grow, when it comes to having flowers in the yard.

Dill is an excellent choice for the yard because it has big yellow flowers that do attract all kinds of things. Once the flowers are done, you will have a head full of seeds. Dill is easy to grow and needs very little attention. It also serves as a nursery for black swallowtail larvae. Fennel is very similar and just as good.

  • yellow dill flower with wasp
    Dill flower
  • green bee on onion flower
    Onion flower
  • purple spiderwort with bee
    Spiderwort

Naturally Growing “Weeds”

Spiderwort (the purple flower above) is everywhere near me, and it easily invades the yard. It is tough to remove because it grows in clumps, but the purple flowers are loved by insects. If you already have it, maybe let some grow around the vegetable garden.

We also have a lot of the white flowering weeds and many other things growing at the edge of the lawn. I’ve noticed how the naturally occurring growth is a big attractor. So why are we always removing it?

The green bee on the scallion flower (above) is probably the Sweat Bee, which is a common Florida green bee. I’m no bee expert and I am guessing. The striped bee on the dill is a paper wasp.

Rudbeckia For Garden Beauty and Bee Happiness

The “Rising Sun” Rudbeckia plant (aka black-eyed Susan) began small with only a few flowers and now it has twenty, with more buds opening! I love this plant. And the bees like it too. There is a little bee crawling on a yellow petal in the photo below. I also found one sleeping on one of the big petals. The flowers are long-lasting. I need to find out how to propagate this plant. This one came from Lindley’s Nursery in New Smyrna Beach.

Rudbeckia plant full of big yellow flowers that attract bees to the yard
Rudbeckia

While shopping at the plant nursery, I’m drawn to plants that already have bees all over them. It doesn’t mean that bees will immediately come to the same plant in my yard, but at least I know it’s possible. It can take a while for the bees to appear when the yard has been relatively bare of flowering things.

Last Spring I bought Marigold seeds and had quite a few flowers growing. I saved the seeds and planted them in my vegetable garden (and elsewhere) to have these beauties spring up. Marigolds are not big attractors, but I do see bees and butterflies on them. They are better known for their usefulness in keeping garden pests away – and that includes mosquitoes.

Yellow marigolds grown from saved seeds
Bee on yellow marigold
A bee on my yellow marigold

This pink flower is blooming on a Cosmos plant grown from seeds saved last season. I wish I had more of these growing in the landscape.

pink cosmos with bee

What Florida Bees Need

The University of Florida IFAS Gardening Solutions page “Gardening For Bees” has a wealth of information. Florida has a lot of bee species and some (29) that are only found here.

I learned that to keep bees happy year round, my yard should have at least three plants flowering at all times! This should not be difficult when trees, shrubs, weeds, and vegetable flowers are included. And of course we are talking about organic gardening where no pesticides are used.

bee on pumpkin flower
Bee on the Seminole pumpkin flower

According to the section about choosing plants to attract bees, the Florida article notes that bees prefer specific flower colors. Yellow, white, blue and purple flowers are best for attracting bees. This makes sense when you think about vegetables – yellow flowers on tomatoes, watermelon and squash, with white flowers on peppers, blueberries, and onions. You will notice that most of my “bees on flowers” photos on this page are yellow!

Each morning I can hear bees buzzing among the watermelon vines in search of the little yellow flowers. I do have a few watermelons growing on each of the vines, so the bees are doing their job. They are too quick and busy for me to get a photo!

Yellow flowers on watermelon vine

This little bee was having a rest on top of the puffy red-orange Gaillardia flower. He was not moving which helped me get this close up shot. According to the UF gardening site, bees can’t see red! What does this bright, puffy flower look like to the bee then?

Bee on red Gaillardia
Bee on the Gaillardia

I am only just beginning to fill my yard with pollinator plants. See the link below for more ideas.

I’m also learning about the plants and flowering weeds already growing nearby. My new philosophy is to let some of those weeds grow, like the prolific Richardia ground cover shown below.

Richardia Scabra ground cover
Richardia Scabra ground cover with little white flowers that bees love.

When I look at all these bee photos, which were taken over the past months in my yard, I’m amazed at the different varieties of bees. I need to begin paying closer attention as my flower offerings increase. There is always more to learn.

Perfect (Florida) Plants For Pollinators

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Garden Stories

Stories from the backyard garden

One of the most fun things about gardening is seeing the changes day by day. Each morning I go out and check on things. I look for what is growing, what is being eaten, and what new bugs have arrived.

The caterpillars on the dill were doing great, until the cardinals spotted them. Those cardinals have eagle eyes and will pick off bugs and worms in no time.

dill caterpillars

Water Source For Bugs

Small bugs and butterflies appreciate a water source that is shallow. Leaving little containers around the garden can help them find water.

water source for bugs

Cats in the Garden

My cat Skittle loves to walk among the garden growth. She will sleep on the garden path and follows me when I go out to check on things.

cat and pink flowering plant
black cat in the garden
black cat in the garden

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Why You Should Plant Zinnias

Here in Florida we can plant and grow Zinnias. I never knew this, but the Urban Harvest sells seeds and they sell things that will grow in Florida. Sure enough, Zinnias are heat tolerant and should grow all summer long.

Zinnias attract bees and butterflies and they come in beautiful colors. This is why you should plant them.

A few days ago I placed my third seed packet order from The Urban Harvest, a Florida based grower. Within a few days my seeds arrived. I planted the Zinnia seeds into small pots on May 19th. The next day – May 20th – all seeds had sprouted!

Zinnia seeds after one day!

I don’t believe I have ever in my life seen seeds sprout in one day’s time. To say I am amazed is an understatement. I have great results growing seeds from The Urban Harvest.

Currently I have Okra growing that was planted directly into a raised bed and it came up in four days. Of the 15 seeds planted, there are 12 growing. But, what is eating my okra?

Much of what is growing in my gardens have come from seeds bought at The Urban Harvest.

Zinnia Seeds Sown Directly Into the Garden

It also works to sow zinnia seeds right into the dirt. I did this around the edge of my small garden space – which is quickly being overrun by watermelon vines.

The seeds sprouted within a couple of days.

Zinnia seeds

More About Zinnias at UF / IFAS site.

Pictures of Zinnias

These photos come from Pixabay. I’ll have my own photos when my flowers grow.

Zinnia with bee

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How To Increase Worms For Gardens

Worms will multiply if they are supplied with good things to eat in the dirt. Create a worm box to get started.

One thing about worms is that they are particular about where they live. If you can create an area that appeals to them, they will multiply readily. I’ve watched it happen.

I’m not into growing worms artificially indoors in a bin, and it’s not necessary. Keep them outside in their element, but also keep them enclosed so they can be found. Once you have bunches, move them elsewhere to improve another area of soil.

Grow Box Worm House

Now that I have a few grow boxes set up in the yard (similar to the Earth Boxes on this Amazon page – this is an affiliate link), I don’t use them all for planting. This one is currently my worm house. It’s also where I mix soil for small pots when I plant seeds.

Important to know…

This type of box has wheels, which allows it to sit up off the ground. You need some way to keep pots and boxes elevated so fire ants won’t set up house in your bed! I had a large pot – shown to the right in the photo below – which became filled with ants because they came up from underground directly into the pot. Now my pots always sit on a saucer, cardboard, bricks, or something so the ants are deterred.

Small grow box with good dirt for a worm farm.

To get started with any grow box or raised bed, you need dirt. We bought bags of dirt from Home Depot to begin, but now buy our dirt, compost and mulch from The Yard Shop in Edgewater.

Direct Composting

The dirt needs good stuff added so plants will grow, but this also feeds worms. It can take a while to make your dirt worm ready. Worms eat organic matter and each morning I would put my coffee grounds into my gardens. Eggshells were saved and crushed, and banana peels or old bananas were added to the dirt in my grow boxes. I did not have a compost area at the time so anything leftover from fruit and veggies went into my grow boxes. (Not onions – worms don’t like them.)

Plants were also added, along with organic fertilizer. Worms like roots. This is one reason you should cut off old plants and not pull them out, removing their roots. Have you ever dug up a patch of grass and discovered worms among the grass roots?

Adding Worms From the Surroundings

Adding worms to the dirt means going out and finding worms. It’s not that easy here because there are few worms to be found in a Florida lawn. I dug at the edge of the yard where natural growth and unbothered, wild plantings were growing. I found a few worms near an old tree stump that was decaying and moved them to the boxes.

Truthfully, I only found a few worms. Each time I came across an earthworm, I collected it for the boxes. I had no idea if they would live.

grow boxes planted with tomato,, eggplant, peppers, dill and squash.

Oh Ya… We Have Worms!

When I finally had more grow boxes and other homemade boxes for my plants, I began to transplant.

While my plants were growing, apparently the worms were too! It was impossible to tell because until then, I had not dug in the grow box dirt.

Happily I saw loads of worms of all sizes. This box is stuffed full of wonderful earthworms. I’ve been moving them to other places for fresh, yummy dirt to enjoy.

earthworms multiplying in good soil

Keep the Dirt Covered

I noticed that if I set a pot or saucer on top of the dirt, when I lifted it there would be worms ducking back down into the soil. The covering makes the soil cooler, which is important.

A grow box that holds good garden soil full of earthworms of all sizes.

Creating Good Soil

It takes a while to have good garden soil. You may buy dirt, compost and organic things to mix together for dirt, but only nature can create the best, real soil. Eventually our diligent attempts can create good dirt, but it does take time. Manmade is never the same, or as good, as what Mother Nature has created over time. If we are careful, we can come close enough to grow some food to eat while providing a healthy environment where all kinds of life can flourish.

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The Blueberry Bush is Planted!

Newly planted blueberry bush in my Florida backyard.

I may be excited for no good reason, but I’m happy to have this blueberry bush in the ground.

This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t buy things on a whim. I know that blueberries are hard to grow, and if I do manage to get berries, the animals will probably eat them before I can.

Florida Blueberry Shrubs

Certain types of blueberry shrubs grow in Florida, and if you want to succeed at growing blueberries here, find the right kind for your location. Normally blueberries need long cold winters. This is why they grow all over the place up north.

Special cultivars have been created for our warm winters here. Rabbiteye and Highbush are the types suggested – no lowbush berries here. Read the link below for more information.

Find good info at the IFAS Blueberry Gardener’s Guide at the UF site.

pine needles around base of blueberry plant

This bush was purchased at the Farmer’s Market. I only know that it is a “blueberry” and is supposedly “self-pollinating”. Three varieties are listed on the back of the card that was attached to one of the stems; Pink Lemonade, Sunshine Blue, and Emerald + Sharpblue.

I’m not one to let a shrub die if I can help it, so into the ground it went. The plan was to put it into the ground in a more out of the way spot, but because of roots, I couldn’t dig there. It had to go where I could dig a large enough hole.

hole dug for blueberry bush

My hope is that it will live and maybe be an attraction for birds and bees.

Although the card claims it is self-pollinating, everything I’ve read advises growing more than one bush. Elise of The Urban Harvest suggests growing a mix of blueberry varieties (link below to her video).

Planting Blueberries – The Urban Harvest

Blueberry season is April here in Florida, so the plants should be fertilized in January, or thereabouts, for a good crop.

planting the blueberry

The plant was very root bound and I tried to open up the soil a bit, then added peat moss, compost and pine bark (in the bottom). I also added some acid fertilizer, which I’ve read I should not have done… but it is too late.

I don’t have the space to create an acid-loving section of the yard for things like blueberries. Some vegetables like the soil a bit acidic, but blueberries require more. This is just one more growing experiment.

Adding soil mix around blueberry bush

I will probably trim those lower branches.

blueberry bush planted

The new garden area is a place where I plan to grow vegetables, which are not necessarily acid loving.

The bird feeder was moved to this open area in an attempt to keep the squirrels away from it.

Cardboard has many uses in the yard. Im using it here to cover the sandy area that was recently tilled. I also used a piece of cardboard to kneel on while I planted the blueberry.

florida backyard gardens

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