Sweet Coneflower
Rudbeckia subtomentosa
Golden rays around a chocolate-brown center, blooming later than most and carrying well into fall. Crushed leaves smell faintly of anise.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Late-season gold with fragrant foliage, serious height, and a goldfinch magnet through winter.
Sweet coneflower earns its name. Crush a leaf and you get a faint anise-like scent, subtle but unmistakable on a warm afternoon. The flowers open in midsummer as rings of golden-yellow rays surrounding a dark chocolate-brown center, blooming weeks later than Rudbeckia hirta and carrying the show well into fall. Plants form substantial clumps over time, with soft, slightly fuzzy foliage that gives a fine texture to the mid-border. This is the coneflower for gardeners who want height with presence. Four to five feet of upright, branched stems hold dozens of blooms at once, making it as effective in mass plantings as it is as a structural anchor. Goldfinches descend on the seed heads in late fall, and the dried stalks carry winter interest long after the last petal drops.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown sweet coneflower propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 3–5 ft · 24–36 in wide
- Bloom time
- July–September
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Central and eastern United States, from Kansas and Illinois east to Indiana and south to Arkansas
Care notes for sweet coneflower.
Plant in full sun in average to dry soil. once established, sweet coneflower is genuinely drought tolerant. Divide clumps every three to four years to maintain vigor. Deadheading is optional: leaving seed heads feeds birds and extends visual interest through winter.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside sweet coneflower.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.