Gloriosa daisy
Rudbeckia hirta · Asteraceae
The roadside black-eyed Susan and its large-flowered garden forms, in gold, orange and mahogany, often two-toned. It flowers from June to frost, and lives only a year or two.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 16 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around gloriosa daisy
The planner designed this bed around gloriosa daisy 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 stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Gloriosa daisy × 5, yellow
- 2 Winter heath × 7, pink
- 3 Sea thrift × 5, white
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 5 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Lady tulip × 12, white
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
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is seen over silver sage (12 in) in front of it.
- A step in the back row. Next to false sunflower 'Summer Sun' (3½ ft) and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 5 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 13 weeks. From late June to mid September.
- Closes the season. For its last two weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 24 of the 24 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The flowering year starts with winter heath in late January and ends with gloriosa daisy in mid September. The flowering is at its height from late May, with 3 kinds out together.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It flowers in its first summer from seed, so it fills a new bed while slower perennials grow. It is short-lived; rely on self-sown seedlings or on the longer-lived 'Goldsturm' type.
- Quick colour in a new garden
- Cut flowers
- Meadows
What to plant with gloriosa daisy
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Purple coneflower: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for 11 weeks.
- Blanket flower: in flower together for 13 weeks, from late June.
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about gloriosa daisy
Does gloriosa daisy need sun or shade?
Gloriosa daisy grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does gloriosa daisy grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does gloriosa daisy flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to mid September |
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid September |
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 be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many gloriosa daisy 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 five in one group.
Is gloriosa daisy 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?
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 spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Short-lived, but keeps going by self-seeding. Thin or move seedlings where they are not wanted.
What flowers after gloriosa daisy?
Gloriosa daisy is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does gloriosa daisy look like in winter?
Gloriosa daisy 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 good for bees and butterflies?
Gloriosa daisy 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.
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 'Indian Summer' Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'
- 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
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 16 in (40 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid September; daisies; yellow, orange, red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- 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. 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.