Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'
Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer' · Asteraceae
Huge, golden-yellow daisies, as wide as a hand, with a dark brown cone, on tall, hairy stems from midsummer to frost.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early July to early October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'
The planner designed this bed around gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' × 8, yellow
- 2 Cottage pinks × 10, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 5, white
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Sweet William × 11, purple
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Darwin hybrid tulip × 3, red
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to false sunflower 'Summer Nights' (3½ ft) and sweet William (18 in): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 8 plants in 2 groups (5 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 14 weeks. From early July to early October.
- Closes the season. For its last four weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 31 of the 38 plants (82%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The back corners are held by false sunflower 'Summer Nights' and gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer', the tallest plants on the plan. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Grown as an annual or short-lived perennial, it flowers in its first year from seed and makes a fine cut flower. It seeds itself in open ground.
- Quick colour for new gardens
- Cutting
- Late-summer borders
What to plant with gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- Tall verbena: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for 14 weeks; tall enough (5 ft) to stand behind it.
- Purple coneflower: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for 10 weeks.
Questions about gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'
Does gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' need sun or shade?
Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 9. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to early October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid July to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early October |
| Zone 5 | Early July to early October |
| Zone 6 | Early July to early October |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early October |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early October |
| Zone 9 | Late June to early October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Short-lived, and self-seeds in open soil.
What flowers after gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer'?
Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall.
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa': from early October to early November, 10 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
What does gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' look like in winter?
Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' good for bees and butterflies?
Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of silvery checkerspot and wavy-lined emerald feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Rudbeckia
- Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida
- Black-eyed Susan 'American Gold Rush' Rudbeckia 'American Gold Rush'
- Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm' Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'
- Black-eyed Susan 'Little Goldstar' Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Little Goldstar'
- Brown-eyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba
- Coneflower 'Herbstsonne' Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne'
- Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata
- Giant coneflower Rudbeckia maxima
- Gloriosa daisy Rudbeckia hirta
- Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers'
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Host plants for the silvery checkerspot
- Host plants for the wavy-lined emerald
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early July to early October; daisies; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Eastern United States, NC
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Silvery checkerspot, Wavy-lined emerald
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, salt
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.