Rudbeckia Hirta Maryland State Flower

August 7, 2026

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). This, the Maryland state flower, is thinking of blooming. They’re just buds right now, but in just a few days they’ll be in full bloom. Maryland is the state where I was raised. A state I am mighty proud to claim as mine.

This Black-eyed Susan is said to be an annual or sometimes a biennial or perennial. That’s a bit confusing. In my gardens though, I find them to be biennials. That means it is a plant that has a 2 year biological life. During its first year it simply grows roots and stems with no blooms. It is dormant over the winter and blooms, creating seeds, and dies in the second year.

I can hardly wait for the blooms to happen.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.