Congratulations, Joe. I think you will enjoy the control and variety available to you by growing seeds indoors. I use a different method, Part-Starts, but learned it is important to keep the seeds and new plants within two inches of the shop light (two four-foot 40 watt flourescent bulbs). My blackeyed susan are the Goldsturm variety. I planted them in October, because we rarely get a hard frost before Thanksgiving. Once the plants take, you can cut small plants off the edge of larger plants, and have all of the blackeyed susan you can imagine. Given full sun (or partial sun),and good soil, it will spread. Be sure to mulch well, two plus inches around the each plant. I hope this info is helpful. Good luck.

I assume you are talking about Rudbeckia hirta seeds? No, it's not too late. I have winter-sown these and they are hardy seedlings and sprout fairly early. I plant them out in May and usually have blooms by mid-July or so. You will probably get blooms later in the season instead. Also, some may act like a biennial and will likely over-winter and give you a good show next year. They like good drainage, and will tolerate some drought, but since this is a bird bath garden, it's easy to give them a shot of water when you're changing the water in the bird bath. Just a note about bird baths (I am an avid backyard birder) - if you have cats or hawks that frequent your yard, bird baths need to be out in the open, where the birds are able to keep a good eye on predators that may be soaring or crouching behind a perennial. They also need some cover nearby to dash into in case a hawk attacks - a dense shrub is good.

Oh Boy and HOW! They are easy re seeders- you could just sprinle them on the beds you want them in this fall- OR- you could Winter Sow them- and get even better germination! That is where you take an old container- milk jugs, 2 litres- ect. , put some drain holes in the bottom- a few holes near the top- cut a flap to put in 3" of moist Miracle Grow- sprinkle the seeds on top- secure the flap with duct tape and set outside in the middle of winter! It lets Mother Nature do her thing- in a "mini cold frame" with great soil- and no interferience from hungry mice and birds! It IS gardening in winter! Any perennials hardy to our zone will work GREAT! Look at the Winter Sowing forum- read the FAQs and join the club! The seeds for these are a bit tricky to isolate- they look like tiny little rods. You can take a look at them at 'The Seed Site'- give it a google and enjoy seeing what the seeds look like- That site helped me a bunch as I started gathering seeds- Don't stop at the Rudbeckia seeds- there are many plantings all around town just ripe for the picking! It is best to just take the ripe seeds without hurting or disturbing the plants- and be sure to ask first if you intend to collect from anothers garden- most gardeners are more than happy to share! Speaking about seeds and happy to share gardeners- the MN forum has a seed swap in January- still yet to be posted- where we get together and bring what we have to share with each other! Usually it is seeds that we share- but if you do not have seeds- some other things like old plastic mini blinds for plant markers- old gardening books- or what ever you have to share- even if it is just food for the potluck! Oh BTW- Welcome to the forum! I love your GW name- and I know they will love it over in the Winter Sow forum as well!! Julie

I've never grown Golden chain trees but the trees I have grown like to be in the ground or in a BIG pot pretty early in their life. They have a long tap root and really like to stretch their roots. Black eyed susan can go in the ground now. If they have been in the pot too long, they may or may not bloom this year but you want them to get their roots down so they can give you a good show next year. If you water your pot a bit it makes it easier to tease the roots apart when planting. BES are pretty hardy and I usually just rip the root ball into sections and plant each section. Sometimes with one seedling per section and sometimes with several seedlings per section. Because of the warm weather, you will have to water daily until your seedlings get a foot hold.