Species

Rudbeckia - Spring 2004

Flower Color, Plot Development Over Time, Data and Comments

Data and pictures will be added as time allows.

Vinca

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Vinca

Botany

Family:	Asteraceae
Scientific names:	Rudbeckia hirta L. [The Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)].
Common names:	Black-eyed-Susan (GRIN).
Native habitat:	Northern America – Canada: the eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec; and in the western provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; United States: the northeastern states of Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia; the north-central states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin; the northwestern states of Colorado and Wyoming; the southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia; and the south-central states of New Mexico and Texas; Mexico; Other: said to be naturalized in parts of North America and other locations, but the native range is uncertain (GRIN).
	View maps related to habitat and other topics from this link to the National Geographic MapMachine: .
Pests
Common plant arthropods (insects/other)/other:	Reported arthropod symptoms in literature: Blister beetles (Featured Creatures, U. of Florida).
	Arthropod symptoms observed in this trial: The only symptom (very minor) was insect feeding (pest unobserved) on foliage and flowers in early June; found evidence of parasitism in the unsprayed field
Common plant diseases/other:	Reported disease symptoms in literature: Alternaria sp., leaf spot; Cercospora tabacina, leaf spot; Eryciphe cichoracearum, powdery mildew; Myrothecium roridum, leaf spot; Sclerotium rolfsii, southern blight and Uromyces rudbeckiae, rust (Index of Plant Diseases in Florida, 1984 revision.).
	Diseases symptoms observed in this trial: Necrotic leaves and dead plants were observed. Pathologists were unable to isolate a pathogen, because plants deteriorated too far before isolations were made and there were too many secondary invaders. Some petal necrosis on fresh flowers was also observed. None of these symptoms reduced ratings below acceptable.
Commercial control:	Greenhouse.	Field/shade house.
Arthropod information:	Pests identified on crops. Search the Arthropod/Host Plant Database.		Florida pest facts and images. Featured Creatures
Disease information:	Plant Disease Facts (Pennsylvania State University) Ornamental Plant Disease Fact Sheets		The American Phytopathological Society Search Common Names of Plant Diseases
More Links and Information
Performance evaluations:	Trial reports and other publications.
More resources:	Additional information. Read more about black-eyed Susan by clicking on the gator:

Honors:

Best-of-class (BC). We select the best performer in each class, based on the "overall performance rating". This rating may not be high, if the class does not perform well (indicating a possible need for improvement in the class). The rating may be significantly different from one or more members of the class. If two or more members of a class received the same highest overall performance rating, we used another rating (such as overall foliage/flower rating or flower average rating) to determine BC. If only one cultivar was entered in a class, it automatically becomes uncontested BC. BC is evaluated in future trials against the performance of new entries in the same class. Refer to a report in "Articles, Papers & Reports" for detailed information. In addition to BC, other "honors" received for these cultivars may be added to BC at a later date, time permitting. Seed companies may forward these honors (awards) to Rick Kelly.

Rating System:

The rating is a 1 to 7 scale: 7- all foliage and flowers free from defects; 4- average foliage and flower condition, minimal plant defects or pest damage to tissue, but still acceptable; 1- foliage and/or flowers with severe defects and/or severely infested with pests and damage unacceptable, making plant undesirable. Plant death due to soilborne pests may be factored into the overall performance rating, if it is a significant problem. Refer to a report in "Articles, Papers & Reports" for details. If listed, ratings with an "a" are the best in a class. If cultivars share the same letters, those ratings are considered to be similar to each other. If there are no letters, there is only one cultivar in a class or all the members of a class have similar ratings.

American Takii

Ball Seed

Bodger Seeds

Floranova Plant Breeders

Flower Fields - Goldsmith Seeds

The Flower Fields

Grimes Seeds & Plants

Kieft Seeds Holland

E. Benary Seed of America

Scroll down the page or click on the color of choice to view individual cultivars within a color class:

Dwarf Class of Double and Single Flower Heads
Gold double-head class		Gold to yellow w/dark eye single-head class
Orange single- head class	Yellow single-head class
General Note

Winter

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Black-eyed-Susan is a great-looking crop in the landscape, because of the wonderful flower colors and flower color combinations available, as well as the different height classes. One of the common problems we have observed in our trials and in observations of landscape plantings is variability in plant height within a cultivar and sporadic plant death. Some cultivars have done well.

Flowers opened between 95 days for Maya and 108 days from sowing for Toto Rustic; thus, evaluations were conducted between early June and early July, later than most of the crops. Performance generally peaked in mid June, but was only fair by early July; however, a few cultivars remained good late in the season. To date we have only been offered five black-eyed Susan cultivars cultivars from Benary and four from Takii for evaluation.

Dwarf double-head gold class

Picture date:	1 May (week 10)	14 May (week 12)	31 May (week 14)	24 June (week 19)
'Maya'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot C Plot B Sprayed Field Plot A Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 50
E. Benary Seed of America

Picture date:	5 June (week 17)
	Unsprayed Field

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
23 Feb.	8.7 (3.4)	95	5.6	5.8	5.7

Honors: Best-of-class, uncontested.

Comments: ‘Maya’ (new for spring 2004) is said to be the first truly double black-eyed-Susan. Adjusted performance was very good for this uncontested best-of-class. Foliage was full with some necrosis, and plants ere slightly uneven. Flowering was good to excellent all season, peaking in mid June; the large, chrysanthemum-like blooms filled the canopy with color. This cultivar appears to be one of the best cultivars we have evaluated so far. Pest symptoms on foliage and flowers were minor; some plant deaths occurred in the unsprayed field.

Details of performance for this cultivar will be posted on the web in "Articles, Papers & Reports" at the completion of this trial. These details will include ratings over the entire season and pest problems.

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Dwarf gold to yellow w/dark eye single-head class

Picture date:	1 May (week 12¹)	14 May (week 13)	31 May (week 16)	24 June (week 19)
'Becky Cinnamon Bi-Color'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot A Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 172
American Takii

Picture date:

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
10 Feb.	9.8 a	100	5.1	5.2	5.1

Honors:

Comments: New for spring 2004. See ‘Toto Rustic’ for comments.

Dwarf gold to yellow w/dark eye single-head class

Picture date:	1 May (week 12¹)	14 May (week 13)	31 May (week 16)	24 June (week 19)
'Toto Rustic'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot A Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 79
E. Benary Seed of America

Picture date:

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
10 Feb.	6.7 b	5.0	5.0	6.1	5.6

Honors: Best-of-class.

Comments: ‘Toto Rustic’ (best-of-class established in spring 2002) and ‘Becky Cinnamon Bi-Color’ (new for spring 2004) had similarly good adjusted overall performances, but ‘Toto Rustic’ had the higher rating value, remaining best-of-class. ‘Toto Rustic’ was a taller plant, and ‘Becky Cinnamon Bi-Color’ was a wider plant with a larger flower, but ‘Toto Rustic’ had more uniform plants and less disease lesions on flowers. Pest symptoms on foliage and flowers were minor for ‘Toto Rustic’, but more severe for ‘Becky Cinnamon Bi-Color’ flowers by early July. Some plant deaths occurred for these cultivars in the unsprayed field.

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Dwarf orange single-head class

Picture date:	1 May (week 12)	14 May (week 13)	31 May (week 16)	24 June (week 19)
'Becky Orange'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot A Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot A Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 174
American Takii

Picture date:

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
10 Feb.	10.4 (4.1)	103	5.3	5.6	5.5

Honors: Best-of-class, uncontested.

Comments: ‘Becky Orange’ (new for spring 2004) was uncontested best-of-class with a very good adjusted overall performance rating. Foliage fullness and flower display were good to outstanding, though variable through mid June, but flower quality was only fair in early July, varying from good to poor. Pest symptoms on foliage were minor, but more severe for flowers by early July. Some plant deaths occurred for this cultivar in the unsprayed field.

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Dwarf yellow single-head class

Picture date:	1 May (week 12)	14 May (week 13)	31 May (week 16)	24 June (week 19)
'Becky Yellow'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot B Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 173
American Takii

Picture date:

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
10 Feb.	9.3 a	102	4.7	5.6	5.5

Honors: Best-of-class.

Comments: ‘Becky Yellow’ (new for spring 2004) replaced ‘Toto Lemon’ (best-of-class in spring 2002) as best-of-class with a higher rating value for adjusted overall performance, though both had similarly good ratings. ‘Becky Yellow’ produced the wider plant and larger flower. ‘Becky Yellow’ had higher foliage ratings all season, partially due to the greater plant fullness and uniformity of the cultivar. Flowering was quite variable, but ‘Toto Lemon’ had a superior display in mid June. Some plant deaths occurred for this cultivar in the unsprayed field.

Dwarf yellow single-head class

Picture date:	1 May (week 12)	14 May (week 13)	31 May (week 16)	24 June (week 19)
'Toto Lemon'	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot A Plot C Unsprayed Field	Sprayed Field Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field	Plot A Plot C Sprayed Field Plot A Plot B Plot C Unsprayed Field
Cultivar No: 77
E. Benary Seed of America

Picture date:

Seed Sowing Date	Flower Diameter²	Days to First Flower³	Overall Foliage/Flower Rating⁴	Overall Pest Rating⁵	Overall Performance Rating⁶
10 Feb.	6.0 b	105	4.9	5.3	5.1

Honors:

Comments: Best-of-class established in spring 2002. See ‘Becky Yellow’ for comments.

ROK

1. The number of weeks from seed sowing to the date the plant was photographed. Photographs were taken in a field sprayed on demand as needed, after scouting for pests, and a field that is not sprayed at all.

2. Measured in centimeters and inches [cm (inches)].

3. Average number of days from sowing to unfurling of the first flower in the plots. Flowering for alyssum was completed in the flat prior to planting in the field. Values with an "a" are considered significantly greater than those with a "b", "c", etc., and those without a letter are not considered to be significantly different.

4. The average of the combined foliage and flower data in the sprayed field as an expression of cultivar quality. Values with an "a" are considered significantly greater than those with a "b", "c", etc., and those without a letter are not considered to be significantly different.

5. The average of the combined foliage and flower data in the unsprayed field as an expression of arthropod and disease symptoms. Values with an "a" are considered significantly greater than those with a "b", "c", etc., and those without a letter are not considered to be significantly different.

6. The average of the combined overall foliage/flower rating and overall pest rating. If plant death from a soilborne pathogen resulted, this was factored into the rating. Values with an "a" are considered significantly greater than those with a "b", "c", etc., and those without a letter are not considered to be significantly different. See Articles, Papers & Reports for further explanation in the reports.

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