Summer Light Mike · August 12, 2020 · A hovering bee closes in on a Black-eyed Susan July 22, 2020, in our backyard. Photo by Mike Sweeney/©2020 Each summer Monica and I will let a couple rouge Black-eyed Susans grow in the backyard. They usually break through our clumps of Russian Sage in early July, reaching heights of seven feet before listing from their unwieldy growth by mid-August.