Love Indian Summer, but I've never had the patience to let it reseed. I grow Goldsturm as well, in the less well tended "don't want to mess too much with it" part of the garden. A word of caution about Cherry Brandy, however. I bought these in six-packs from a very reliable local nursery, fully expecting the blooms to be that beautiful wine red color. While one or two of them turned out that way, most of the rest were brown--not the lovely, rich red brown of some blooms of Cherokee Sunset, but a dull, drab buff brown that pretty much blended seamlessly with the faded mulch underneath it. A few were gold with a hint of red brown toward the eye. Of course, when you buy them at 3-4 inches high or as seeds, there's no way to preselect for the color. I've since seen them for sale in gallon-size pots. Same problem. Some are gorgeous, others not so much. Kay

Thank you Carol, just wanted someone more experienced to look at it. appreciate it!

Sah, Normally they do last the season. Something probably induced root/crown rot in that particular plant. I would not expect an epidemic of rot throughout your Rudbeckias, just an isolated case most likely. It was possibly responding to too much water. I know how frustrating it is to have a plant fail right in a focal point of a flower bed, especially at this time of year when it is hard to get a replacement for it. Maybe a nice fall blooming chrysanthemum could fill in the gap. Still, those so called hardy chrysanthemums are also rather short lived too. At least for the rest of the year it will do the job. Don't give up on using R. hirta in your garden. The occasional failed plant is more than compensated for by the majority of these workhorse blooming machines that churn out blooms until frost. Just bear in mind that they are not long term perennials/biennials. Maybe one in five survives to bloom again next year. Survival to the year after that is a rarity, though. They are very reliable self sowers, a real plus. Moses

I let mine go to seed and keep some seedpods to start. I have not purchased any for years. I really like the variation of flower size and colour. The wild species grows all over and they are quite attractive too. You may prefer to purchase named cv's but I enjoy the surprise of what comes up. Edited to say sorry I can't seem to delete the duplicate pic.