That is a magnificent photo that you posted on another thread ,
Makes me definitely want to have that plant in my garden .
ill-man and I are in the same neighborhood .
Do I need to worry about watering ?
I have no irrigation so it would have to be very drought tolerant in full sun once established .
Good question ill - is this an issue for us who live north of you ?

I have never given this plant a bit of extra watering, and I've never deadheaded it even once. It just grows like mad and blooms by the thousands. Maybe your well composted soil is too rich for it, Ill-Man? Mine is not improved nearly as much as it ought to be...in some places quite sandy. And since it is a native, maybe it prefers a more typical Florida sandy soil? Perhaps you should try again. Did I give you seeds or a plant?

I brought one potted plant to my new house and all of these flowers came from it. Plus, I had volunteers at the old house around the pot that grew huge there, too. It can take plenty of direct sun, doesn't need extra water, and does okay in partial shade, too. For me, it's just not fussy.

I'll be glad to share more with you to see if you can get a healthier plant going. And when I see you again, if you have a start of that shell vine, I'd love to have it. Mine finally died and I'm still trying to get some kind of vine that will grow on my front fence. If that one won't do well there, I give up.

For sure it doesn't need extra irrigation, at least not once the basal rosettes form and start to grow.

all of this from a 6" tall plant dug from a very sandy area of scrubs and pines.

Marcia

If that's it's habitat (sand-scrub)I'll keep an eye out for it in the ocala forest. If I can recognize it not in bloom......

I just looked at the USDA page for rudbeckia which shows its natural range over much of north america, but absent in fla, ri, vt, me, nb, ns, and most western states and provinces. Apparently, "absent" means that observation has not been reported. They even have a county break down for the states. In MA, for instance, its reported as observed in central mass and nantucket, but not the cape or eastern mass. That seems unlikely, so it's probably also unlikely that it is not naturalized in fla.

pnb, you are probably looking at rudbeckia hirta, the native wildflower that is NOT a Florida native. Rudbeckia triloba is, from what I've been told and read. It has a smaller flower and a browner eye, and is often called "brown-eyed Susan" as a result.

Marcia

Here is a link to our native Rudbeckia. I found several other pages with info, too, but this seemed at a quick glance to be pretty informative.

Marcia

Here is a link that might be useful: Rudbeckia Triloba (Native Florida Brown-eyed Susan)

It said "triloba". Again, I think they are being extremely didactic. Listed as absent unless officially reported, I suppose. That is one well-adapted weed, huh? Zones 3-10, wow.

Well, I don't know about the listing with USDA, but this plant definitely grows wild in Central Florida, and I expect over much of the rest of it, too. They need to update their list, I guess.

Marcia (Hope the link was helpful to you)