Hi, I am a special education teacher in Maryland, enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation. I am an amateur gardener ( we used to move around all the time, so I never stayed in a place long enough to watch it grow and mature). Now we are planted here, and I am trying to grow things. Right now, my problem is my black eyed susans. Every time I plant them the leaves turn black and then they die. I have moved locations, watered, fertilized, etc, but to no avail. They shouldn't be this hard, they are really weeds! Any body have a solution?

csped,
First off Welcome to The Garden Helper's Forum!!!
We are very glad you found us....

Next I'm just letting you know, I'm going to move your post down into PLANTS AND FLOWERS SECTION,
You'll get a few more responses to your question
down there...

And I'd like to offer a small bit of help here too, Some questions actually..

What kind of soil do you have your BES in?
Bagged or regular garden soil?
What kind of fertilizer's have you used?
***I personally NEVER use any on those types of flowers* but we need to know... especially the brand and or numbers on the package...
What locations have you moved them too?
Sunny, shade..?
How many times have you moved them?
And how many plants did you start out with????

And how much watering did you do?
And what time of day, ie; morning, late evenings?

And finally, we have several members from Maryland here, our own Loz, hostess, is from there too!!!!

Most Black Eyed Susans don't really need any fertilizer...they do very well in lean soil, especially the perennial ones like 'Goldstrum'. They also don't need a lot of extra water once established, which may be the problem...too much water? The annual or biennial ones like 'Becky Mix', 'Irish Eyes' and 'Indian Summer' are very prone to fungal diseases, especially mildew. They tend to perform better with more moisture during their blooming season. All of them prefer full sun to light shade.

All cone flowers are my favoritw, but the B.E.S. is by far the best. They really stand out. I have always been puzzeled by the apparent black leaf fungus as it will hit one plant and not the next one. Always been strange, but they do come back each year.

That black fungus (tar rot?) - if it's the same thing I'm thinking of, it gets on everything once it gets going.

We didn't get any this year - I wonder if it had something to do with the drought.

We are having some rain right now; if we keep getting precip over the course of the next two weeks, and we also get the leaf rot, then I'll know.

Or, maybe the city really did start burning the leaves - they were supposed to do that rather than compost it.

Black eyed susans are notorious for getting a fungal disease called anthracnose. (I think that is how you spell it) It is easily diagnosed since the disease leaves BLACK spots all over the leaf, which sometimes will get to the point of covering the entire leaf.
The best fungicide to use on this disease is one that contains the active ingredient , (again I am not sure on the spelling but I will get it pretty close) CLORANATHINAL.
This disease is very much effected by weather conditions and some years will be bad while others you may not see any trace of it at all. So Carly you are right, the drought did keep it away. There is no real preventative treatment against this disease that actually works, and you have to catch it early for the fungicide to work.
This disease can and will hit anything from lawns to hardwood trees (nut and fruit trees are very susceptible to it) If it gets in your lawn it can kill your entire lawn with in a few days time. But just because you have it in your black eyed susans, does not necessarily mean you will get it anywhere else.

I wish I had better news for you.

Plant Doc,
Does it make sense to be proactive with this CLORANATHINAL? Maybe put it on even if you don't see it first?

Not really as this is not something that happens every season, and it is not a preventative treatment. It only gives you a window of protection for 1 to 3 weeks, and since you don't know when/if the disease will hit you can be spending a lot of money and applying chemicals needlessly.

I just thought the darkening of my BES leaves each fall was part of the process of the plant dying back to it's winter dormant state. It happens to my plants each fall and has not affected the blooms or the plant's spreading. The time of year I transplant has proven to be important. I transplant plants late fall after the blooms have died or early spring as soon as the plant emerges from the ground. When I have transplanted other times the plants died never to return.

Thanks