I would characterize most Rudbeckias as short-time perennials best treated as annuals. Most have the ability to return in following years but, in my experience, seldom do. The reason for that here is climate variability. If you live in an area that is subject to freezes and thaws some plants are very susceptible to heaving, Rudbeckia is such a plant. Root exposure to the elements can cause a plant's demise.
That said, it should be noted that a couple varieties of Rudbeckia can be viewed as perennial border essentials as they reliably return (and usually expand) year after year. Prime example of the reliable kind is Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'. Another is R. nitida 'Herbstsonne'.
Rudbeckia hirta are the non-reliable species. However, R. hirta do self-seed easily. Different varieties of R. hirta can easily cross which may manifest in subsequent season's display unique characteristics from both cultivars in the same plant. The pics I submitted above in this thread are examples of self-seeded crosses.

Thank you jmorth! Great information!

Very good explanation! You should post that as a comment over in the Plant Database; I'm sure there are many others who'd appreciate that information. I know I did!

done

This one reminds me of a whirling dervish -->

I had some extra seedlings this spring so I planted them near the bird sowed sunflowers at the end of my veggie garden. I think they look awesome with all the surrounding colours

Very colorful. Neat metal trellis/tower in middle of pic.

And do I detect a solar panel in that flower's stake?

Joanna..your Cappuchino looks very similar to Cherry Brandy rudbeckia..I just rec'd seeds two days ago from Judy in Pittsburgh. Can't wait to see them come up next Spring. What do you think is a good companion plant with that?

It's probably cheating to post this one in the annuals forum since it's quite perennial: Rudbeckia var. Goldsturm, but I have such a nice large clump of it. It started as a single plant about a decade ago, but reseeds quite well. I also have R. hirta Cherokee Sunset and Cherry Brandy which seem more biennial and also reseed a lot.

I tried sowing Cherry Brandy but no success I had R. hirta for a couple of years but it finally died off. I need to find more seeds (anyone with extras, hint, hint)

I collected some seeds off Cherry Brandy last year. Haven't tried them yet (I still had some purchased seeds), but If you want to try some, drop me a T-mail.

Yes to the solar panel on the fake flower...the middle of the flower lights up
I find cherry brandy has low germination rates compared to others. Most rudes are not winter hardy here, so I treat them all as annuals. I did have a few overwinter last winter though. We had a mild winter
I find that our temperatures really affect colours. This year, the cappuccino is the biggest flower, but is more orange

So do you start them under lights or as a winter sow?

I started them indoors this year, but have wintersowed them in the past. Difference of 2 weeks for bloom between ws and indoor start. Most wintersowed fine with good germination rates, but Cherry Brandy is a bit expensive, so I would always start those indoors. The bonus of indoor start is keeping the seedlings separated. I usually put them into 4" pots about 4 weeks after germination for indoor. (late March). Usually the ws ones are just germinated then.

Thanks---that is helpful. I'll try for them again---indoor.

We have had fantastic weather and only a few light frosts. Here's a few rudbeckia pictures from yesterday

I had really good germination wintersowing Cherry Brandy a few years ago. I always wintersow rud hirtas.



I generally use my rud hirtas as annuals. While they might winter over, and perform well early in their second summer, they tend to poop out before that 2nd summer ends.

Karen

Joanne & Karen,

Just lovely...I've been growing the hirta and would love to get the cherry brandy in my garden