Something old, something new: Serendipity in action

Black-Eyed Susan flowers, or rudbeckia, weren't planted by a human
How the space looks in autumn

The Black-Eyed Susans are a family favorite but this year the blooms appeared unexpectedly in a new location some 50 yards from where the flowers were first established.

It's serendipity ... with help likely from the birds.

The flowers unexpectedly bloomed in a hosta bed near a gutter. This is at the front of our house, on the northeast side. Hostas are planted there because it generally doesn't receive a lot of sunshine.

I didn't notice the move until the plants were pretty established. It was a nice surprise! The original site is far away on our acreage, in full sunshine.

According to Aaron Steil, assistant director of the fabulous Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University in Ames, the Black-Eyed Susans, or rudbeckia, typically spread by runners from the original plant. It's very common, Steil wrote in an e-mail message, to see new plants pop up a few inches away from the original plant.

While this is a typical way to spread, Steil added that the flowers can also spread by seed. Birds often do enjoy the seeds on rudbeckia, and so "It's very likely that birds were the distributors of the seed that this new plant sprouted from."

There you have it. I like the look, overall, but if we ever get new gutters, that plant's going to take a beating.

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