Enjoy a Longer Season of Black-eyed Susans with Goldblitz
An early-blooming award winner.
'Goldblitz' is a black-eyed Susan cultivar with several benefits for gardeners. It blooms in its first year from seed. Compared to other cultivars, it begins flowering a bit earlier in the growing season, before midsummer. It's also a compact black-eyed-Susan that fits smaller garden spaces or containers. 'Goldblitz' was awarded a Gold Medal from Fleuroselect, an international organization for ornamental-plant breeders and growers. Fleuroselect Gold Medal winners are trialed against comparable varieties and judged on their garden performance, flowering and distinctiveness.
A cultivar of a North American native species, 'Goldblitz' attracts bees and butterflies with its flowers and feeds songbirds with its seeds. But as expected from the species, it caters to bees and butterflies with its daisy-type flowers and to songbirds with its seed heads.
Common name: ‘Goldblitz’ black-eyed Susan
Botanical name: Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldblitz’
Exposure: Full sun
Flowers: Held on upright, sturdy stems, each flower consists of golden-yellow rays surrounding a deep brown central cone. The flowers span three to four inches across. Flowering begins in early summer and can continue to autumn. Brown seed heads follow, attracting goldfinches and other small songbirds.
Related: Do you love Black-eyed Susans? Read about other superb varieties:
- 'American Gold Rush', the 2023 Perennial Plant of the Year
- 'Denver Daisy', a large-flowered type with bronze markings
- 'Lion Cub', whose flowers resemble pompoms
- 'Amarillo Gold', an award winner with green central cones
Foliage: Medium green, lance shaped and concentrated at the base of the plant. The flowers obscure the leaves when they appear.
Habit: ‘Goldblitz’ reaches 24 to 28 inches tall and 14 to 18 inches wide, with a mounded shape.
Origin: Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii is a variation of a black-eyed Susan species native to open woods and meadows across roughly the eastern half of the United States. 'Goldblitz' is a cultivar introduced by BallSeed.
How to grow it: 'Goldblitz' rudbeckia needs full sun. It grows best with moderate water and fertile soil that drains well. 'Goldblitz' can be purchased as transplants or started from seed indoors several weeks before the typical last frost date. Seeds can also be sown directly in the garden once nighttime temperatures remain above 50˚F.
This plant is hardy in USDA Zones 3 through 9, but it is considered a short-lived perennial and sometimes it is grown as an annual. This type of Black-eyed Susan can spread by rhizomatous (underground) stems and by seed, so while individual plants may last just a season or two, the population can persist and spread over a longer time period.
Image courtesy of BallSeed
