This really is a plant for grown-ups! Its common name is Coneflower but the ‘Green Wizard’ variety is very understated.
Rudbeckia occidentalis ‘Green Wizard’ flowers just have green bracts around a black cone. It does have a small circle of tiny yellow flower petals around the cone but these are not exactly striking. The leaves are bright green and, I’m afraid, very attractive to slugs. The flower stems grow to about 3ft but I have never needed to stake my plants. I grow my plants in semi-shade and full sun and they seem to do best if the soil is not allowed to dry out. I’ve grown these plants for the past 12 years and have never done anything special to protect them over winter.
The plants are flowering now (June 22nd). I grow one clump by the side of a path just so I can admire their beauty and feel grown-up!
The following photos were taken on June 20th 2010:
Your Green Wizards look great. I bought some plug plants of Green Wizard and planted them in April, but there are no signs of any flowers. will these flower this year? I'm in London.
ReplyDeleteHi Daniel
ReplyDeleteThe first thing to say is that I'm no expert! However, my plants have finished flowering so I would think that yours will not now flower this year. Sorry!
I was given this plant about 10 years ago and took little notice of it for the first few years until I realised how beautiful it is. It forms rhizome-like roots and, I've found, likes quite a lot of watering to get the best results. It will go through the winter with ease and should flower well next year. It is worth waiting for! By the way, slugs like it too.
If the plug plants you bought came with a label with a picture of the flower? Then chances are that the picture is one of mine. I was asked by a label company if they could use my photos - to which I agreed. I felt really pleased to be asked. How sad!
Thanks for visiting this humble blog.
Cheers
Rob
hello - I am growing this from seed and am very excited about it! My soil is heavy clay and it is very hot in summer - will have to make sure I water a lot. Dont have trouble with slugs as they just burn up
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