Why rudbeckias are the quintessential autumn flower and how to grow them | House & Garden

24.09.2024 - 04:13 / houseandgarden.co.uk / Hazel Sillver

Rudbeckias in Clare Foster's garden

Colour is more joyous during the bleak, chilly months than it is during summer. At this time of year, one of the best plants for providing it is the coneflower (Rudbeckia). Amid the autumn mists, under grey skies, its bright-yellow daisy flowers shine a glorious shade of gold.

There are 24 species, all of them native to North America: predominantly found in the United States. They hail from a range of habitats, including prairies, which is the reason for their surge in popularity. As prairie-style planting has become fashionable in recent years, so the long-flowering, informal beauty of the rudbeckia is employed by garden designers looking to create naturalistic, meadow-inspired borders.

In the past, Native Americans used the rudbeckias of the prairies – including Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan), R. laciniata (cut-leaved coneflower), and R. triloba (brown-eyed Susan) – as medicine. The roots and dried leaves were made into tea or poultice and employed to treat a variety of illnesses, including cold, flu, infection, inflammation, earache, and snake bite. Modern studies indicate that the plant does indeed strengthen the immune system and has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties.

The plant was named by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, in honour of his mentor, Olof Rudbeck the Younger, a fellow botanist at Uppsala University, and his father, Olof Rudbeck the Elder, a naturalist and doctor. ‘I have chosen a noble plant in order to recall your merits and the services you have rendered,’ Linnaeus wrote in his dedication, ‘a tall one to give an idea of your stature, and I wanted it to be one which branched and which flowered and fruited freely, to show that you