Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Meet the Cut-Leaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), a native wildflower that’s equal parts striking and ecologically mighty. Here’s why it’s a garden rockstar:
Cool Facts:
Towering Beauty – Reaching up to 9 feet tall, it’s the skyscraper of the coneflower world! (Short-lived perennial but spreads via rhizomes.)
“Green-Head” Mystery – Unlike its black-eyed cousins, its central cone starts bright green before fading to gold—a pollinator bullseye!
Butterfly & Bee Buffet – A late-summer lifeline for monarchs, swallowtails, and native bees. 🦋🐝
🌎 Eco Superpowers:
Thrives in Wet Feet – Loves rain gardens, ditches, and stream banks (drought-tolerant once established).
Deer-Resistant – Bitter leaves = wildlife usually passes it by. 🦌🚫
🦌 Fun Bonus:
Nicknamed “Sochan” by Cherokee tribes, who traditionally cooked its young leaves as a spring green (must be boiled to remove toxins!).
Pro Tip: Pair it with Joe-Pye Weed for a pollinator power duo!
These plants grow really tall and start blooming mid-july here in SE Michigan. My Arbor is like 7ft tall...maybe slightly taller, and the flowers are reaching almost to the top of it.
Cutleaf coneflowers also spread aggressively! They were just in this bed, but now they are also along the whole backside of my house.
Fortunately this is a native Michigan Perennial. And if you want to fight invasives...planting aggressive native plants is a great way to do that!
These make great privacy screen plants for a few months, once they have grown tall. I usually cut all the dead steams right before the snow hits in early November, or once the snow starts melting in the spring.
This plant is recognized as a keystone plant for supporting caterpillars and wild birds. It is also considered deer resistant.
Mine grows in the shady area of my yard. I get maybe a couple hours of full sun there, but not a whole lot. It seems to be pretty versatile!
