Rudbeckia, Black-Eyed Susan

Day 315: Susan is a bit of a tom-boy, and somebody poked her in the eye! I am not certain of the etymology of the name "Black-Eyed Susan," but it always makes me chuckle because these flowers do have a Becky Thatcher look, at once pretty but rough-and-tumble and somewhat weedy-wild. They are the showpieces of a scatter-garden such as mine, heads rising brazenly above the shorter plants as if to say, "Go on, I dare you!" to the Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns who share their playspace. You can sense the mischief in the rambunctious yellow-orange flowers, feel the longing for adventure. A better name, I believe, would have been "Black-Eyed Becky," because I am certain that this plant has frogs in its pockets just waiting to be dropped down the neck of some stately, proper and unsuspecting lily.