The (Green) Hills are alive . . . with black-eyed Susans

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager

Imagine my delight as I pulled up to Green Hills Preserve yesterday and saw this! (I haven’t been to the preserve in a month; Aubrey mowed trails there while I was away.) She told me the black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.) were in bud, and now they’re in flower!

This is the meadow near the parking area that I seeded in 2014. I can’t claim too much achievement here, as these species of Rudbeckia are easy to grow, even weedy, in newly-planted native meadows. But it sure beats the foxtail grass that dominated the meadow the first summer. Over time the Rudbeckia will have to compete with native warm-season grasses that are now still building their deep root systems, so it is likely we won’t see a display like this again.