Black Eye Susan Drooping

by Susan
(Lakewood, NJ, USA)

I planted the black eye susan perennial last summer. It bloomed last summer for a bit and then died. This year the flowers came in the begin. of July but by begin. of August the flowers are already dieing and falling off. I also notice that the leaves are drooping and in general the plant does not look too good. Any time the temp. went over 85 degrees - they started to droop in the sun. Is this normal? What am I doing wrong? I am watering them every morning for about 1/2 hr. with a circular sprinkler. Any suggestions how I can revive them or make them last longer next year?

Doug says that you can expect a bit of drooping when temps rise that high but cut out the daily watering. This is giving them very shallow root systems. So when the water disappears in mid-day, the roots struggle. Only water twice a week and put on an inch of water at each watering. In fact, with this plant, I'd be tempted to water once a week and/or ignore it unless the garden got very dry. It should take dry if the roots are good - but that constant watering is preventing it from developing an extensive root system.

Try adding a lot of compost around the plant in the early spring. Organic matter is going to even out the available soil moisture and going to feed the plant at the same time.

Let me know if this changes things.