Rudbeckia, Prairie Sun

Prairie Sun Rudbeckia (Rudbeckia hirta 'Prairie Sun')

Prairie Sun is a dazzling cultivar of Rudbeckia hirta that lights up the late-season garden with its oversized golden blooms featuring lemon-yellow tips and a distinctive green central cone. This long-blooming annual or short-lived perennial combines the toughness of native Black-eyed Susans with a unique, eye-catching color palette. Loved by pollinators and gardeners alike, Prairie Sun adds cheerful brightness, vertical interest, and lasting floral impact to borders, pollinator strips, and wildflower meadows.

Key Characteristics

• Large, Bi-Colored Blooms from Summer to Frost
  Blooming July through October, Prairie Sun produces 4–6 inch flowers with soft lemon-yellow petals tipped in gold and a luminous green center. These long-lasting blooms are a standout in mass plantings or mixed borders and are excellent for cutting.

• Pollinator Magnet and Butterfly Favorite
  The blooms provide abundant nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects during the critical late-summer to fall period when other food sources are scarce. Goldfinches may also feed on the developing seed heads.

• Adaptable and Easy to Grow in Diverse Soils
  Tolerant of heat, drought, and poor soils, Prairie Sun thrives in full sun and average garden conditions. It performs well in everything from prairie plantings to more formal garden settings, requiring little care once established.

• Bright Vertical Accent in Native-Inspired Gardens
  Reaching up to 36 inches tall, Prairie Sun adds upright form and long bloom time to layered plantings, especially when paired with grasses and late-season natives like asters and goldenrod.

• Long Blooming for Pollinator Succession
  Flowers persist for weeks and rebloom with deadheading, offering extended nectar availability that bridges summer into fall, supporting monarchs, bees, and migratory pollinators on the move.

Product Details

• Native range: Cultivar of Rudbeckia hirta, a native U.S. species

• Plant life cycle: Annual or short-lived perennial (reseeds readily)

• Sun requirements: Full sun

• Soil requirements: Medium to dry, well-drained soil

• Mature height: 2–3 feet

• Bloom time: July–October

• Bloom color: Golden-yellow petals with lemon tips and green center

• USDA Hardiness zones: 5–9

Prairie Sun is an irresistible combination of durability and drama. Whether you’re planting for pollinators, cut flowers, or sheer visual joy, this luminous Rudbeckia will brighten your garden from midsummer through the last frost.