Last year was my first full season with "Prairie Glow". See the 'attached' link for a picture I posted of this triloba.. It attained a height of about 4 feet. I am expecting/hoping that the original plant lasts several years with lots of reseeding in between and beyond.

(Having said this, I have yet to see it emerge this spring although it is still early for my zone and cold spring)

Here is a link that might be useful: First Year Prairie GLow

I ordered Prairie Glow this season, but have been growing the regular triloba for years. It's kind of impossible to say how it's going to behave from year to year. Sometimes individual plants will persist for a few years. Usually though they die the year after flowering or sometimes most of the plant will die, but a smaller section will remain alive. Luckily they reseed like crazy, so watch for the seedlings and allow some to grow. They will flower the following year.

My triloba usually grows to 3 feet or so, but I have had them grow to almost 5 feet if they get a lot of water and fertilizer.

Kevin

One thing I notice about "Triloba" is that, in my experience, it seems to need much more water than I would have thought for it being a prairie grassland plant.

I grow the species rudbeckia triloba and it persists mainly through self seeding here. What I am wondering with the selection/hybrid 'Prairie Glow', will it self-seed more or less true to name or not? If not, then there is no point in my purchasing one, only to have it live one season and die.

I too am wondering if the reseeds will revert to the garden variety "Triloba". Hopefully I can let you know sometime this summer.

Again, I just ordered Prairie Glow this year so I have no experience with the seedlings, but I would suspect some would bloom pure yellow, others would have the darker portions. Of course you won't know until they bloom. I guess save as many seedlings as possible.

When I grew Helianthus Loraine Sunshine (you know, the variegated one) it re-seeded a lot. Most of the seedling had the variegated foliage, but there were also a lot that were plain green. I suspect the same thing will happen with the flowers of Prairie Glow.

Kevin

R. triloba is generally a short-lived, reseeding perennial. You can encourage perennial behavior by cutting bloom stalks to the ground when finished blooming and before stalks dry. However it reliably reseeds. Volunteers are easily pulled as it lacks a taproot. Great plant. Have had it for years here in Dallas, TX

Just so everyone knows (from above reading)...triloba is moisture loving and would only be found along streams or rivers in most of the Prairie area. Further east, it may be an upland species due to greater abundance of rainfall there.

I would like to add that my Prairie glow triloba got to 4-5 ft in full sun, zone 5b. It also reverted entirely back to the full yellow and the stems are not that striking purple color any more. The plain variety is taller, 6ft.