Black Eyed Susan seeds

I saw on this site awhile back where someone had posted that they cut their black eyed susans, put them upside down in a brown bag and hung them in the shed and once they dry out, the seeds fall to the bottom of the bag. I really want to try this myself. If anyone has ever done this, would you please let me know when I should be cutting them? Now, while they're blooming? Or should I wait until the die off?

Any help is appreciated!

Wait til the yellow petals start browning and then gather them up, whack them back and put a rubber band around the stems just tight enough to hold them together. Slip the whole thing a a paper sack and use the loose bit of rubber band to secure the sack. Keep them someplace cool and dry and you have an instant seed trap.

I would wait until petal fall. Birds feeding on black eyed susan's are good indicator that they are mature as well. You want to make sure the seeds are fully developed before cutting the stems off. Seeds should drop off easily after petal drop and seeds should hard to touch and very dark. Andrea

Thanks so much for your help! I can't wait to try this! One of neighbors was sharing some of her black eyed susan's with another neighbor and suggested that they will multiply on their own in time (which I've read here, too) but I'm just not that patient and want to see what results I can get with this method!

My Rudbeckias seeded themselves last year and this spring I had about 2 dozen happy new little plants, and they all bloomed. The benefit to collecting the seeds is that you can put the plants exactly where you want them Have fun with it...that is the best part of gardening.

Thanks, themoonhowl! I'm somewhat new to this perennial gardening stuff and will admit I am having a great time with it! There is so much I want to do in the yard!

One more question, if you don't mind. Once I do the process you suggest above, about how long will it take for me to get seeds?

As soon as the petals have fallen, you can slip a fine mesh bag over the seedhead and when they ripen, then will shed in the bag, that way you don.t miss collecting them, or you wait until the petals have fallen and the top of the stem is turning brown and you cut them as above. They start blooming in late spring to early summer here in 8b/9a and bloom through the first frost if you dead head. You can bag and dry a bloom stalk with in a couple weeks after the first bloom and throughout the season. The seeds are small dark and shiny when ripe.

I would like to add one thing about collecting seed from perennials. If you are trying to collect seed from a cultivar (a cultivated variety which was taken from an offshoot or irregular growth of the parent plant), for example - Echinachea purpurea 'Kim's Knee High' you will not get the true plant but a parent of that plant and probably not a good one. Division of plants or cuttings are the best way to go in order to get the true plant. Rudbeckia does have several cultivars, if you have a label look at it to see if it is a species plant and not a cultivar. I am wondering about self sowing as suggested above, perhaps they are growing from the original plant and not from seed drop. Some plants have difficulty flowering the first year from seeds (perennials, that is) an heirloom rudbeckia (black eyed susan) does well from seed. Rudbeckia is a pretty rugged plant and the root stock is pretty rugged as well.
Andrea

Thanks for the input, Andrea. When we moved in a couple years ago, there was a nice area of black eyed susans, however, I tore up a lot of the black plastic stuff underneath them that the previous owners obsessively laid around the yard! I think when I did that, I pulled up a lot of plants that were there. Since I don't know the background on them, I'm going to try this seeding thing. As I figure it - nothing ventured, nothing gained!