Rudbeckia 'Henry Eiler'

Sweet Coneflower 'Henry Eiler'
Rudbeckia subtomentosa 'Henry Eiler'

Sweet Coneflowers are sturdy prairie plants from the midwest, with cheerful yellow petals, dark centers, and mildly fragrant anise-scented foliage. Henry Eiler, a plantsman and botanist from Illinois, discovered these particularly unique Sweet Coneflowers with petals rolled up like quills, in a little remnant of rare native prairie habitat along a railroad.

Like so many of our native plants, these are spectactular pollinator plants, featuring 3" flowers atop stately 3-5'T stems, and are great cut flowers. Drought and heat tolerant once established, these unique flowers dazzle in the sultry mid summer to early fall sun.

Fantastic in cottage gardens, native gardens, meadows, pollinator gardens, prairies, rain gardens, and more. These low maintenance plants are adapted to low fertility environments, and are best fed sparingly.

Fragrance: mild vanilla-anise foliage, hence the common name of Sweet Coneflower.

🦋Pollinator plants - excellent nectar plants, and larval host plants for Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) and Wavy-lined Emerald (Synchlora aerata).

Deer resistant.

Full sun.

3-5'T x 1-2'W.

Zones 4-8, cold hardy down to -30F.

💚Plant Nerd: The late Henry Ailer (1934-2024) was a globe-trotting plantsman originally from Germany, but who settled in Illinois and became a US Citizen. He was passionate about plants, nature, and learning as much as he could about the natural world. The Henry Eilers Shoal Creek Conservation Area, located in Litchfield Illinois, is a biodiversity hotspot and contains many rare prairie plants that he discovered, treasured, and successfully protected. Over his lifetime, he won numerous awards and was a well-respected and beloved figure in the communities to which he belonged.