Hanging Basket Black Eye Susan

Black-eyed Susan vine is commonly grown in the Midwest as a season annual to provide color in a vertical setting. This plant, Thunbergia alata, is actually a tender evergreen perennial in the acanthus family (Acanthaceae) native from tropical East Africa to eastern South Africa that is hardy only in zone 9 and 10 (and is completely unrelated to Rudbeckia hirta, an herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial in the daisy family (Compositae) native to north America, also commonly called black-eyed Susan). Because it grows and flowers relatively quickly it is often used as an annual ornamental garden plant in cooler areas. It should be used with caution in frost-free areas as it has become invasive in many warm locations throughout the world.This trailing or twining vine grows rapidly from seeds, reaching up to 8 feet in a single season under ideal conditions, but more often only 3 to 5 feet