Looks right to me. I raised some of these in 2008. They formed their chrysalides right inside the leaf nests. Sandy

Jim, I may be wrong, but that looks like a Monarch chrysalis. Sometimes they do have the tiny black spots on the chrysalis. It looks like it is forming the gold ring on the chrysalis, too. Did you have some Monarch caterpillars on milkweed nearby? Not all of them reflect the black spots so vividly. I am attaching a photo that shows the spots, but it is not as close up as your image. What do you think? I may be way off base here, so hopefully someone else will chime in. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Monarch chrysalis and gender ID

It sounds like one of those darned Genistas Broom moth caterpillars that ate my plant to the nub this year. It has finally, after two months, grown to about 4" to 6" high. The WID caterpillars are not that big. Today, I saw the Wild Indigo Duskywing laying eggs on it, and the Crotolaria saggitalis next to it (also in the legume family). If it does happen to be the Genistas, you might want to remove them if you find any more because they will defoliate your plant entirely, forming little webs of the leaves. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Genista Broom Moth

Nj, if I've got it right, you are planning a higher-6" to 8"-mowing just for this coming growing season, and perhaps the one following, to interupt weed seed cycles. IF that is so, it is indeed a normal part of meadow establishment. I guess to answer your question, the only one that will flower despite this early-stage mowing is what you've already identified-Rudbeckia hirta. Not saying none of these others won't also, just that in my experience R. hirta is one that can be dependably counted on to flower despite these early-stage mowings. The thing I'm not getting though is the presence of the tree and shrub species within this mix. Not at all saying I don't like them, just I don't see how you can have a meadow in which woody plants are purposely part of the mix. Are you intending to have these woody species around the perimeter? That could work. Then, once you've got your meadow up and running, fire is the best tool, but timely mowing can and often does suffice, depending on other circumstances. Or, one can purposely let the meadow undergo natural succession. That's what happens in nature, in areas of the country like yours and mine which were formerly primarily forested. Meadows would indeed exist, but as a seral stage following a disturbance of some kind. When we create these things, we have to bring the disturbance to them if we want it to remain as meadow, prairie, etc. Quite an extensive plant list BTW. +oM