A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 My brown flowers have me confused!

I don't like posting more than one flower at a time for ID (because it can get confusing if the thread continues past page one), but in this case I have to...

I bought 3 plants in early June that were tagged the same, but it appears that they are producing different flowers!


The petals on flowers above are more compact than on the one below, in the foreground.


The foliage on all three plants seems to be pretty close to the same, but the flowers on two of them have large dark centers (one is taller, & the blossom is larger & more open), while the third one is dome-shaped, like some types of Mums & Marigolds are. (I'm sure that none of them are Marigolds, because I don't ever buy Marigolds... & the tags said they were something else!)


By the way, these are NOT orange flowers... (they're brown!) My camera is pretty good about showing true colors most of the time, but it just doesn't like brown, for some reason! I've tried to change color tones with my photo editor, to get to true brown, but have found that it only dulls the colors & does weird things to the greens... I've just never been able to get brown to come through right!

(Also, in the first photo, the flower petals look waxy/shiny... but they really aren't! All these flowers have the same texture. I think it might be the way the light was hitting them when I snapped the photo.)

Is anybody else confused now? ...or is it just ME?

Here are some marigolds

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=marigold

And zinnias

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=zinnia

Anything look familiar? Check the leaves, too.

I have the same flowers....They are beautiful!! However, I can't remember what they are. I think they are a Calendula....Possibly Pacific Mix. ...If I remember correct: That is what I had them marked as. However, My rememberer is broken so it doesn't work well. The other option is a Strawflower or Zinnia Old Mexico, but I really think they are Calendula. I will have to wait to get seed to know for certain which species they are. LOL! It's pretty bad, I can recognize most of my flower species by their seeds instead of the flower! That's what I get for trading so much!

Does this flower look anything like what you have. Here is a link to a picture and name for you.

Calendula officinalis


(just made your URL shorter)

My guess would be some sort of ZINNIA....

i vote zinnia

Thanks, ladies (& gent)!

I'm ruling out Zinnia, as I have a few different kinds (all with distinctly similar characteristics), & these brown flowers don't quite match up.

Although they each have differences in their shapes, I realize that my yellow & orange Calendulas do, as well... plus, the textures & leaves match these. So, I'm going with Carla on this one, & calling it Calendula. (& I didn't know that Calendula is a type of Marigold!)

Patty, look at the picture of Calendula Officinalis "Touch of Red Mix" to see if any of those flowers resemble yours.

Calendulas are in the Daisy\Aster family, not Marigolds. One of the very misleading common names given to Calendula is Pot Marigold.

Here are some pictures of my orange/brown flowers...I think they're the same as yours....They don't look anything like my Zinnia....I had them marked as Calendula. See what everyone else thinks. I appologize for the dark images.

This one is probably two weeks (or more) older than the one above. They last a long time, but it appears to be as far open as it can possibly get. Notice the purple velvet like center? I know it's hard to see.

Here's one of the entire plant...They certainly appear to be Calendula leaves...am I off base here? I've never actually grown Calendula before, and these were from seed.

Do your leaves look like these? I have to admit that from the photo, yours look a little different, more similar to my Zinnia.

Rosie & tcmers, you both hit it! I do like Calendulas, because (even though I have a friend whose veggie garden has been taken over by them, & she says they're "weeds") they last a long time as cut flowers, & the earth-tones are a nice change from the other "flashy" colors I have in my beds.

OK... sounds fair to me, & I believe it! <i>(Although I wish people wouldn't do that sort of thing! The flower world is new to me, & botanical names make things confusing enough when you're as obsessed with learning the names of everything green & growing, as I am!

Patty, I'm so glad we finally got it nailed down. The beautiful pictures added by tc had to be a great help!

As for them being weeds, who cares? If you like and enjoy them, that's all that is important. I personally think they are gorgeous and plan to start some in my winter-sow project this year.

Hmmmm......My Brown flowers are giving up seed now. The seed is a definite no go for the Calendula! Mine are now positively ID'ed as Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset. The seed was purchased and I still have some of it left....Opened the seed packet back up for comparison. Yeppers! Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset.

tc, have you thought of collecting those sunset coneflower seeds ???

Oh YA! Already have some harvested, just waiting for more!

I didn't see the October post by tcmers until yesterday, but I'm in agreement.


The seeds from my smaller, dome-shaped blossoms (above - seeds on the left, below) are clearly what I recognize as Calendula seeds....

...while the seeds on the right are from the larger flowers.

However, I'm still not totally convinced that any of my larger, browner ones are Rudbeckia, (IF Rudbeckia really is a Coneflower) because they don't have that droopy "inside-out" appearance.
(Isn't that the characteristic that sets "Coneflowers" apart?)


Does anyone know of a good seed identification site?

The picture posted on the last post on the first page to me look exactly like Gloriosa Daisys'....

The Seed Site is a great site for identifying seeds and seedlings.

I must agree, it does look a lot like a Gloriosa Daisy. That was my first thought when I saw it.

I just went back and found my seed packets from last year.. and even though those flowers look exactly like that G. Daisy, the seeds don't match..
I don't think so anyways now.. the seeds in package, are littlier... and black...
*like a regular Daisy, or Black~Eyed~Susan*

Cherokee Sunset Rudbeckia can produce single, semi-double and double flowers, and often all on the same plant. To me, all of the photos in your original post look like CS Rudbeckia. The seeds on the right do look like Rudbeckia seeds.

Thanx for taking the time to look through your seeds, Weezie ...now I'm REALLY confused!! I just wish I hadn't have bought all those plants at the same time! (Only 1 of them had a tag, but the foliage looked the same for all of them.) The flowers turned out to be strikingly different... then later on, the seeds looked the same! I hate when that happens!







Thanx for the link to that seed site, Sarah. That's exactly the one I didn't bookmark when I'd found it a long time ago & could never find it again!

Alan, do you think is Rudbeckia considered a Coneflower? (More confusion!)
Uhhh, Weezie... what the HECK is a regular Daisy?
(Is that anything like a regular person?)

Regular daisy, like a shasta/white daisy or black~eyed~susan...

Rudbeckias (which includes Gloriosa Daisies, Black Eyed Susans, Brown Eyed Susans, etc.) are often called coneflowers because of the center 'cone', however, the double ones may not even have a cone. Echinacea is also considerd a coneflower, but some of the newer cultivars don't have the 'cone' either, ie., Pink Double Delight and Razzmatazz.

Of course... the "cone" thing! That cleared things up a little for me.
(...well, until you got to the "however" part!)

Since the seeds from these are definitely not Coreopsis, I'll just call them Rudbeckias for now, unless somebody comes up with something else. All the other clues seem to be leaning in that direction.

Weezie, do you think it's possible to get a seed ID forum going here? What I collected from the centers of my Shasta Daisies last fall aren't looking at all like seeds to me (& they don't quite match up to the pics on the seed site), so I've put a big black "?" on the envelope I keep them in & have planted some just to see if they do anything. (The pics on the seed site don't match up with them, either.)

Bill and I have chatted about something along those lines...
But it was about server space and the next upgrade in the future...
but we'll see what we can come up with...
*hopefully, you know I get, day late and a buck short.. although lately it's been a week late and more than a hundred buck's short... :rolleyes: *

And just why should it be any different at YOUR house?!!
(Believe me, I can relate!)

It never hurts to hurry up & wait, though ...we're used to that anyway!
Thanx for your input.