The Award-winning Amarillo Gold Rudbeckia Is One Sunshiny Plant
This daisy-type flower boasts deep yellow rays around greenish central discs. Its vivid color, compact habit and sturdy stems make it an award winner.
Virtues: Amarillo Gold rudbeckia has been named a Flower Winner in 2020 by All-America Selections (AAS), a plant-trialing program that tests plants in gardens across the USA. This annual daisy-type flower boasts deep yellow rays around greenish central discs. Its vivid color, compact habit and sturdy stems set it apart in the eyes of the AAS judges. This variety was also awarded a Gold Medal in 2020 from Fleuroselect, an international organization of plant breeders, growers and sellers. Fleuroselect noted the comparatively large size of its flowers and its short, sturdy stems.
Common name: Amarillo Gold rudbeckia
Botanical name: Rudbeckia hirta Amarillo Gold
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Flowers: Intense golden rays surround a greenish yellow disc. The flowers appear from spring to fall and they measure between four and six inches across.
Foliage: Medium green, lance-shaped, hairy leaves cover the base of the plant's stems and become more sparse toward the top of the stems.
Habit: Amarillo Gold rudbeckia is a compact selection, standing just 12 to 18 inches tall and wide, with a mounded shape.
Origin: Amarillo Gold was bred by Benary. It is a selection of the species Rudbeckia hirta, which is native to prairies, plains, savannahs and woodland edges of western North America, although it has naturalized across much of the continent. For more on R. hirta, see its listing in the Plants Database at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
How to grow it: Site in full sun for the best performance, although it can take some hours of shade. Plant it in soil with good drainage, because it does not perform well in damp soil. Deadhead spent blooms by cutting the flower stem back into the mass of the plant. This will maintain the compact shape of the plant while encouraging further flowering. Amarillo Gold is marketed as an annual but it may perform as a short-lived perennial where the species is hardy (USDA Zones 6–9).
Amarillo Gold can be compared to a related cultivar, Denver Daisy, by clicking here.
Image credit: All-America Selections
