Black-eyed Susans are cheerful wildflowers that look like bright golden daisies with a dark brown or black puffy center, almost like the flower has a big chocolate button in the middle! They love to grow in sunny meadows, open fields, and along the sides of the road where they can soak up lots of sunshine. Black-eyed Susans are the state flower of Maryland, and their bright yellow petals can make a whole meadow look like it is glowing with sunshine. Each flower is not just one flower – it is actually made up of hundreds of tiny little flowers all packed together!
These tough flowers are very hardy and can grow even when it is super hot and dry outside, which makes them real survivors. They bloom all summer long, from June all the way to October, giving bees, butterflies, and other insects a sweet snack of nectar for months and months. The dark center of the flower is where all the seeds grow, and birds like goldfinches love to eat them in the fall. Black-eyed Susans got their funny name from an old poem, and they are part of the sunflower family. If you plant some in a garden, they will come back year after year and spread to make even more happy yellow flowers!
