I have a few patches of "Goldsturm" Black-Eyed Susan and they have bloomed for 2 years now. I planted them in the spring of 2002 from seed (McKenzie seeds). This year I noticed that one patch had a slightly mutated version of the "Goldsturm" Black-Eyed Susan. It was the same flower shape but the petals were half yellow (edges) and half red. Anybody heard of such mutation?
FayeC zone 5a
If you planted them from seed, they are NOT pure Goldsturms. They are strains. Goldsturms only propagate through cuttings. In order to get viable seed, they have to be hybridized with other types of Rudbeckia. The flowers you end up getting from these are Goldsturm hybrids. They resemble Goldsturms, but they are not the "true" Goldsturm. The flowers on these plants WILL show mixed blooms.
Examine the seed packets for these and they should say "strain" on them someplace.
"Faye Tarzwell" wrote:
This year I planted two Rudbeckia types from Park Seed: Rudbeckia fulgida var sullivantii Goldsturm Strain, and Rudbeckia hirta Indian Summer. The "Goldsturm Strain" plants grew very small with few flowers, while the hirta Indian Summer grew very robustly and tall with tons of big blooms.
I think it's best to grow the annual vanities of Rudbeckia (like hirta) if you want to grow from seed.
It's my understanding that the "Gloriosa Daisy" Rudbeckias were first bred by Burpee Seed in the 1950's.
What surprised me was that the patch the new one was in had grown last year and there was no red in them... I grew mine from the Mackenzie seeds (hirta variety). Thank you for your explanation and I love your site and all the pictures :)))
FayeC zone 5a
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