Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'
Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eilers' · Asteraceae (daisy)
Each yellow petal is rolled into a narrow tube, so the flowers look like fine-rayed stars. They are carried on tall, strong stems in late summer, and the leaves smell faintly of vanilla.
- Size
- 4½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'
The planner designed this bed around sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 4, yellow
- 2 Sea thrift × 3, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 6, white
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Pearly everlasting × 3, white
- 7 Red spider lily × 12, red
- 8 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
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 4½ ft it is the tallest plant 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 ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (2½ ft) and false sunflower 'Summer Sun' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 groups (3 and 1). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late July to mid September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With false sunflower 'Summer Sun' and pearly everlasting in late July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans hot (yellow and red) and uses pink and purple for relief, with white to calm things between them. Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' and false sunflower 'Summer Sun' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 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 sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' goes in a border
At 4½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The quilled petals make it lighter and more delicate than other rudbeckias, which lets it mix with asters and garden phlox without dominating them.
- An unusual daisy for the back of a border
- Cut flowers
- Prairie planting
What to plant with sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New England aster: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for three weeks.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- Garden phlox 'Jeana': in flower together for nine weeks, from late July.
Questions about sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'
Does sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' need sun or shade?
Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' 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 sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Mid July 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 sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' be planted?
24 in (60 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 4½ ft (140 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 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 four in two groups.
Is sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' 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 sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'?
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.
What flowers after sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers'?
Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' 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, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Calico aster 'Lady in Black': from mid September to mid October, 3½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' look like in winter?
Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' good for bees and butterflies?
Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' is visited by pollinators, bees and butterflies.
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
- Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'
In these guides
- 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 for bees
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Host plants for the silvery checkerspot
- Host plants for the wavy-lined emerald
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 4½ ft (140 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September; daisies; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asteraceae (daisy)
- Comes from
- central United States
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies
- Host plant for
- Silvery checkerspot, Wavy-lined emerald
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, poor soil
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.