Flowering in the garden today is the little-known Southeast US native, Rudbeckia mohrii. This odd coneflower can only be found naturally from nine counties on the border of Florida and Georgia, where it thrives with pitcher plants in flooded ditches. The plant is named for German born pharmacist, turned Alabama botanist, Charles Theodore Mohr. Mohr is best known as the author of Plant Life of Alabama in 1901, and the eight plant species named in his honor. We were curious if it would thrive in average to slightly moist garden soil, and to our excitement, it has indeed prospered there. It has an airy, see-through look in the garden…think, a Charlie Brown plant, so we aren’t sure if anyone would actually purchase it for their garden. So far, it didn’t blink at 11F during our 2022 winter.
