Hypericum, St. John's Wort, St. Johnswort 'Hidcote'

I have had one for 6-8 years years growing in back of a perennial bed in Zone 7. I like that blooms are long lasting and popular w/ bees....Read More Also popular w/ jap. beetles but I don't bother treating w/ insecticide. Nice fall foliage color too. Mine looks more upright than the photo. Mine is 4-5 ft tall w/ a vase shaped form. Sort of upright then weeping or fountain-like toward the top as I have never cut it. However, this winter a construction project forced it to be ripped from the ground in Feb. It came out in 4 separate pieces and there were no secondary, or hairy roots, and no soil attached to the thick but limited piece of root at all. All 4 pieces were replanted and are leafing out again!

I have grown my St. John's Wort Hidcote for about 5 or 6 years in a south-facing bed of my zone 5b garden. The soil is fairly heavy clay ...Read Morebut with good drainage and amended with compost. It has been one of my favorite shrubs, growing to about 3ft tall with a fountaining habit and strong bloom of large golden yellow flowers. This year growing conditions were bad, with no snow cover, a very early warm spell in March and then drought for most of June & July. For the first time, it did not do well at all, developing considerable dieback and little flowering. I am unsure whether the problems are strictly environmental or whether it has fallen victim to some kind of disease. I am tempted to lift and divide it, but wonder whether to do that now or wait 'til Spring. More research needed here, but if I lose it I will definitely replace it since it really is a gem!

People look for a maintenance free plant ... this is pretty close. The key is giving it the proper space to grow. In our central PA are...Read Morea it is a semi-evergreen - leaves remain green through the winter until late January (depending on the severity of the winter). Best way to maintain in our area - prune in the early spring leaving 3-6" of stem and do not prune until the next spring. Remember ... if you do not give it its needed space than it will seem overgrown in your garden.

I've had much success with this plant as groundcover beneath shade trees. It keeps unwanted weeds at bay quite nicely, while some lily bu...Read Morelbs and hostas here and there are unimpeded. It has a neat and tidy appearance all season long, with a brief spell of small yellow flowers in Summer and limited green throughout zone 7a Winters in unprotected areas. Don't worry about browned leaves over Winter; the plant greens up abundantly in Spring. It spreads well, but is contained fairly easily with edging or by mowing the edges if bordering a lawn. My other common groundcovers are the more tender Lamiums which spread at about the same rate, and Vinca illuminata (a slower spreader).