Black eyed susans, next to irises are my favorite flower. Irises remind me of my childhood home where we had a large iris garden during late May.

And black eyed susans remind me of the lake house in Massachusetts that I went to with my family as a child for two summers. They lined a section of the long driveway leading up to the house.

Luckily, the house that I bought had irises planted in a few locations (including around my mailbox). So that took care of that need. But no black eyed susans. My first spring in my new home I was determined to have black eyed susans in my gardens. Even nursed them as small seedlings inside with no success in transferring them outside.

This year I decided to put my energies elsewhere. And then I noticed some peculiar leaves in my garden while weeding that I decided to leave them to see if they were anything 'special'. And lo & behold some black eyed susan flowers decide to show up :-)