Garden Highlights

Don't miss our Garden Highlights, updated every Thursday featuring plants for their outstanding ornamental characteristics. Discover everything from flowers to fruit, buds, bark and more. You can search for specific plants using the Plant Finder

Featured: August 14-20

Common Name: Brown-eyed Susan
Scientific Name: Rudbeckia triloba

Native to the Eastern and Central United States, brown-eyed Susan is a short-lived perennial that thrives in a wide variety of growing conditions. Similar to the popular black-eyed Susan, this plant shares the genus Rudbeckia and has yellow flowers with a dark center. It can be differentiated by its leaves —some of which are three-lobed— as well as by the occurrence of smaller and more profuse flowerheads.

Typically, brown-eyed Susan blooms from late summer to early fall and is a great choice for attracting pollinators to the garden, as the showy flowers entice a variety of native species.

At the Arboretum, this plant can be found in natural areas including the Bog Boardwalk, Green Heron Pond, Wildflower Garden and the Bennett-Johnson Prairie. In the Elizabeth Slade Carr Perennial Garden, find Rudbeckia triloba 'Prairie Glow', a cultivar of brown-eyed Susan. This cultivar exhibits the same characteristics with the distinction of multicolored flowers in red, orange and yellow hues.

Garden Highlights

Featured: August 14-20

Hardy Hibiscus

Panicle Hydrangea

Bigleaf Ligularia

Garden Mum

Virgin's Bower

Tsubomi-giboshi

Floribunda Rose

Autumn Lily

Korean Angelica

Switchgrass

Prairie Dock

Dahlia

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