Black- Eyed Susans....Flowers that grow both in New Jersey and Utah

Here is a photo from my Utah garden of a Black- Eyed Susan.  I love these flowers.  The scientific name is Rudbeckia hirta.  Rudbeckia is after the scholar Olaus Rudbeck and his son who had the same name.  Hirta means rough and hairy.  And if you look at the stem and leaves of a Black Eyed Susan you will see that they are rough and hairy.  One thing I love about gardening is to watch a plant grow from seedling to bloom.  This is one of those plants that I know what the seedling looks like.  So even though I did not plant these in my garden, as soon as I saw the seedlings come up I knew what the plant would be.

This is what the Black- Eyed Susan flower looks like before it  blooms.  You can kind of see all the hairs on the plant.  The Black- Eyed Susan is a type of Cone Flower.  I am trying to grow some Purple Cone Flowers in the back of my garden, they probably won't bloom till next year but they are growing.

Black Eyed Susan's come in various sizes and shapes.  I'm amazed by how different they can look.  This is a photo from my New Jersey garden.

Here is a photo of one before it has fully opened.

Some have a red center.  I like this photo even though I think there was some problem in the development of it.( I want to say development of the film, but it was a digital photo so not sure what to say other than the light when taking the photo was off. I'm not a professional photographer.)  The background has a bluish tint, but I find it a bit on the artistic side.  As the flower to me seems to pop out of the photo more.

This flower is actually very small.  It is from my Utah garden.  I just thought it was beautiful.

Here is the small Black Eyed Susan by my petunias, just so you can get an understanding of how small it really is.  So these photo's show the types of  Black- Eyed Susan's that I was familiar with from New Jersey and Vermont.  Out west there is another type of  Black- Eyed Susan.  The Black- Eyed Susan Vine. Which really is not related to the Black-Eyed Susan at all.   I planted one this year.  So here are a few Photo's of it as well.

The only similarity is that they have a dark middle. And the middle of this flower is actually purple.

Here is a photo of the them together.  I'm not sure which I like better.
Sending Black- Eyed Susan flowers to someone means you are sending them encouragement.
They are a bit toxic to pets so keep the kitty from eating them.  I had some in the house and my cat did not want to leave them be, so had to put them outside. Well hope you enjoyed the photo's.  I'm working on getting my photo's together in my old computer so I can print them out and possibly sell them as cards or framed art work.  I have a few new post ideas coming soon....One on listening to the stories of parents and grandparents, and one on the fact that 3 generations of Bowlby men were not going to get married but did. So be watching, as I hope to be more productive in the next few weeks.
Related sites:
Meaning of flowers 
Olaus Rudbeck
Wild American Beauty, All about the Black Eyed Susan
Types of Black-Eyed Susan with names and photos.
G.G.