gardening

The big beautiful blossoms last a long time, and don’t require much in the way of specialized attention to achieve.

A lot of yard and garden cleanup awaited me last fall, after a sweltering summer. I had a mess on my hands, but was glad – more than glad, ecstatic – to be outside, day after day, drinking in the world.

It’s not just for sustenance, but too for exercise, drinking in life and beauty, and maintaining humility.

Like so many of our native plants, the virtues of the Rudbeckias were recognized by English gardeners centuries before they were considered worthy of inclusion in American flower gardens. That’s right. Centuries.

Not only do they thrive in shade, they self-seed, require little care and are attractors of hummingbirds.