Rudbeckia maxima
Overview
Uses: Specimen and accent planting in sunny borders, back-of-border structure, prairie and meadow plantings, pollinator and wildlife gardens, cutting gardens.
Benefits: Grown as much for its foliage as its flower. Broad blue-green paddle leaves form a bold basal rosette in spring, then nearly bare stems shoot five to seven feet up and hold golden petals around tall, dark central cones. The seed heads stand well into winter and feed goldfinches.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4–9
Sun: Full Sun
Life Cycle: Hardy Perennial
Growth Habit: Upright, Clumping — tall bare stems above a broad basal rosette
Bloom Color: Golden Yellow
Foliage Color: Blue-Green
Mature Height: 5–7 ft.
Mature Width: 2–3 ft.
Bloom Season: Early to midsummer
Growth Rate: Moderate
Summary
This is the coneflower that stops people mid-path and makes them ask what it is. Nothing else in a summer border looks quite like it.
The plant begins as a rosette of broad, smooth, blue-green leaves close to the ground — more like a hosta or a cabbage than a rudbeckia, and worth growing for the foliage alone. In early summer, nearly leafless stems rise five to seven feet out of that rosette, each topped by a flower with a dark central cone two to three inches tall and a skirt of drooping golden petals below it. Because the stems are bare, the flowers appear to float.
It reads as vertical punctuation rather than mass. The footprint at ground level stays around two to three feet, so it can go closer to the front of a border than its height suggests, with shorter plants visible straight through the stems.
The cones hold their shape after the petals drop and stand through winter. Goldfinches work them steadily in late summer and fall, often clinging sideways to the stems.
Care
Giant Coneflower Care
Plant in full sun. In shade the stems lean badly and the blue cast in the foliage washes out to ordinary green.
Average garden soil suits it. It tolerates clay better than most prairie perennials and handles both periodic wet feet and summer dryness once established, but it will not take permanently waterlogged ground.
Water through the first season while the taproot develops. After that, water during extended drought only.
It rarely needs feeding, and rich soil produces taller, weaker stems. If growth is genuinely poor, one light spring application of slow release fertilizer is enough.
Give it an open spot where the stems have room — in a windy site or rich soil it can lean, and a single unobtrusive stake solves it. Deadhead if you want to limit self-sowing, or leave the cones standing for winter interest and birds and cut the whole plant back in early spring. It resents disturbance, so divide only when necessary.
Size
What Size is the Giant Coneflower for Sale Online?
Our Giant Coneflower ships in a greenhouse-grade grow pot and is appropriately sized for its container at the time of shipment. If you have specific sizing or planting questions, please contact us.
How Large Does Giant Coneflower Grow?
Giant Coneflower reaches five to seven feet tall in bloom, though the foliage rosette itself stays around two feet. The clump spreads two to three feet wide. Expect a smaller plant the first year while the taproot establishes, with full height from the second season onward.
Additional Information
What are some common names for this plant?
The most widely used names, in rough order of familiarity, are:
- Giant coneflower
- Great coneflower
- Large coneflower
- Cabbage-leaf coneflower
Is this the same as the purple coneflower people usually mean?
No, and the name causes real confusion. Purple coneflower is Echinacea — a three-foot plant with pink-purple petals. This is Rudbeckia, closer kin to black-eyed Susan, with yellow petals, a much taller cone, and blue-green cabbage-like basal leaves. If you were expecting a purple daisy, this is a different plant entirely.
Is it native?
Yes. Rudbeckia maxima is a straight species native to North America, centered on the moist prairies and open ground of the south-central United States — Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and east Texas. It grows well far outside that range and is fully hardy to Zone 4. See our Native Plants of North America collection.
Does it need staking?
Usually not. In full sun and average soil the stems are surprisingly strong for their height. Staking becomes more likely in rich soil, in part shade, or in an exposed windy site. Avoid fertilizing and give it real sun and it will generally hold itself up.
Will deer eat it?
Rarely. The foliage has a waxy coating and coarse texture that deer tend to pass over, and it is one of the more dependable tall perennials in areas with browsing pressure. No plant is fully deer-proof under real hunger. Browse our deer-resistant perennials and grasses for more.
