Black-Eyed Susan in Zone 10a & 10b

Rudbeckia hirta

When to plant black-eyed susan in zone 10b

Zones 10a and 10b share the same average frost dates in our data, so this page covers both.

Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. In your zone, Black-Eyed Susan needs a head start on the heat that direct-sowing elsewhere doesn't require.

Window	Fall window
Start indoors	Aug–Jan
Direct sow / transplant outside	Oct–Mar
Estimated bloom	Dec 10–Jun 9 '27 (~70 days after transplanting)

Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-3 ft.

Zone 10b dates sourced from growinginthegarden.com.

Black-eyed Susan is one of the few flowers that rewards low effort in a way that feels almost unfair. Sow it, keep it in the sun, ignore it. It germinates readily, flowers in its first summer, and carries on through drought and heat that has the rest of the border sulking, standing 2 to 3 feet tall with the classic golden-yellow daisy petals ringing a raised, dark brown-black center.

How black-eyed susan fits zone 10's season

Zone 10b's frost-free window runs about 324 days, from January 30 to December 20. Black-Eyed Susan needs about 70 days from sowing to first harvest.

Good companions

No standout companions recorded yet for Black-Eyed Susan.

Where to buy black-eyed susan seeds

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