Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp.) are beloved for their cheerful, golden-yellow daisy-like flowers with dark brown centers. To create a stunning garden, it is essential to select companion plants that share similar cultural needs—primarily full sun and well-drained soil—while offering contrasting forms, textures, and bloom times to extend visual interest. The ideal companions will create a harmonious and ecologically supportive planting scheme.
Ornamental grasses provide an excellent textural contrast to the bold, solid flowers of Black-eyed Susans. Their fine, wispy foliage and airy seed heads soften the garden's appearance and add movement when swayed by the wind. The vertical lines of many grasses also complement the upright habit of Rudbeckia. Excellent grass companions include Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), with its bottlebrush-like flowers, and Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), which offers stunning reddish-bronze fall color. These grasses thrive in the same sunny, well-drained conditions and provide winter interest after the Susans have faded.
Introducing plants with strong vertical forms creates dramatic focal points that prevent the garden from looking flat. The sturdy, upright flower spikes of these plants rise above the mounding habit of Black-eyed Susans, adding architectural interest. A classic companion is the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), whose pinkish-purple petals provide a stunning color contrast to the yellow Rudbeckia. Similarly, Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) sends up magnificent purple flower spikes that are highly attractive to pollinators, further enhancing the garden's ecological value. Both enjoy identical growing conditions.
Filling the lower layer of the garden with plants that have different foliage textures and forms creates a lush, full appearance and helps suppress weeds. Aromatic plants like Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) offer a haze of tiny lavender-blue flowers and silvery-gray, finely-cut foliage that contrasts beautifully with the dark green, coarse leaves of the Susans. For the front of the border, consider Catmint (Nepeta spp.), which forms a soft, gray-green mound that spills over edges and is covered in small purple flowers for months.
To ensure a long season of color, pair Black-eyed Susans, which bloom from midsummer into fall, with other plants that peak at a similar time or later. This strategy creates a dynamic display that evolves throughout the growing season. Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) are perfect partners, producing a profusion of daisy-like flowers in shades of blue, purple, and pink in early to mid-fall. Sedum 'Autumn Joy' (Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude') provides another textural element with its succulent foliage and large, flat flower heads that start pink and age to a copper-red, bridging the gap between summer and fall.
