This plant is in the yard of the house I'm in at the moment, and in the parks by the lake. It's about 4 feet high. The third picture is the underside of the leaf. It's about to flower (picture 4) so if need be I can add that picture when it's in bloom.
The plants in the yard are blooming now. They're beautiful! The plants at the lake have the same leaves but they bear single flowers, so I guess not Hortensia. Is it still an heirloom variety? Sorry, all I had was screen caps from a video so the last two pictures aren't as clear.
The one at the lake looks like Ratibida pinnata Ratibida pinnata (Pinnata prairie coneflower, Gray-head coneflower) It is native in Ontario, so could be native in your area too, since you are close. Yes, both are beautiful :-)
Oh thank you. I haven't heard of Ratibida (so many types of coneflowers!), I thought it might be Rudbeckia nitida ('Herbstsonne'?). Does the Ratibidia have the same leaf as the Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’?
First of all, the flower looks different from that of Rudbeckia nitida 'Herbstsonne'. Second, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden website Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' - Plant Finder It could be quite unusual if a cultivar of Rudbeckia nitida or Rudbeckia laciniata or a hybrid of the two species (one of them native to Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana) had found its way to that spot at the lake in Quebec. It is much more likely that the plant native in Ontario (and possibly in your area, so close to Ontario), Ratibida pinnata, will grow there. Forgetting about the first and assuming the possibility of the second however, it could be very useful to see a better picture of the leaves than already posted. May be you could pinch a leaf of both: 'Hortensia' and the plant growing at the lake, put the leaves on your table, take a picture of them, and post it here for us, too, to see and compare?
Thank you for the extra information, everyone here is so great at that. I see where you're coming from but I should have mentioned that these aren't naturally sown. The city plants them in the parks, so they could have planted hybrids. Hmm, I thought the flowers on Rudbeckia nitida 'Herbstsonne' looked a lot like the plants at the park, going by pictures on the Internet (of course they could be erroneously labelled) or I'm not catching the differences. https://jeansgarden.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/rudbeckiaherbstsonne_1.jpg http://hoffienursery.com/_ccLib/image/plants/DETA-478.jpg I'm not sure I can pinch a leaf, they're pretty strict at this park. But I did take a picture and you have the pictures already here of the Hortensia leaf. Let me know if that's sufficient. If not, maybe I'll pop over to the park at night in my black knit cap. ;-)
Thank you. I thought the flowers would be the same doubles as in the yard, "Hortensia", and was surprised when they opened up singles.
