I hope you report back once you receive a reply from SRG. It's a bit premature to post a negative report on your interaction with a company before you even know how they respond to your complaint. I actually think it's unfair that these companies are not allowed to advertise here, yet posters are free to say anything they please. Fortunately, most posters are very supportive and forgiving.

Martha
(I am in no way connected to any commercial plant related organization)

Rud 'cherry brandy' is more on the brown side vs the marketing photo which shows a strong red. I seeded some back when they came our and have collected seed each year since... And I will say that they do sit and do nothing for a while once I plant the seedlings out... Much more then other ruds I have seeded.

Is yours just sitting or actually going down hill.

Mine is just sitting.
The ones I had last year that didn't survive the winter (bought the plants at a nursery) did look like the picture. They were red, not maroon. I have a picture of them if I knew how to post it here.
I did *not* post a negative comment on the company. I said that I was disappointed with my purchase. There is a difference. Take a breath, Martha.

I heard back when this plant first came out that they had quite the variance in color. Some people experienced that nice red color they are advertised to have, others got a maroon to nearly brown color. They were plants both bought and grown from seed. I believe these are grown basically like annuals or biennials. They are not long-lived.

Karen

Given my knowledge of most wild rudbeckia's (both variability and longevity), it's all quite true and there's not much you can do about it, other than don't propagate from seed.
I'm always amazed how variable even very few (like 100) rudbeckia hirta wild occuring plants, really are. And pretty much the only survivors from year to year are those that are in biennial form and didn't flower this year.

Rudbeckia hirta/black-eyed Susan 'Cherry Brandy' is an annual, not a perennial as many believe. The link below takes you to Swallowtail Garden Seeds' website photo of 'Cherry Brandy' but they sell the seeds as annuals. It's true that R. hirta is a rampant self-seeder but the plants are actually annuals and live for a single season.

I checked Santa Rosa Gardens website and 'Cherry Brandy' is clearly noted as an annual.

Here's the link I copied and pasted: http://www.santarosagardens.com/Rudbeckia-hirta-Cherry-Brandy-p/rud-che.htm

ellenr - sorry you're disappointed with the performance/color/longevity of your Cherry Brandy rudbeckia. I've noticed & been disappointed to find there are short-lived perennials gone missing from my beds after a season or two.

Here is a link that might be useful: Swallowtail Garden Seeds