'Sunburst' is a compact, tidy selection of golden St. John's wort, a shrub native to the southeastern United States. It carries blue-green leaves and large golden-yellow flowers with a brush of stamens through early and midsummer, then red-brown seed capsules that hold into winter. The leaves stay late in mild climates and it keeps a rounded 3 foot shape without much help.
It wants the dry, well-drained ground the species grows on in the wild, full sun to part shade, and little else; wet feet in winter are the one thing it will not forgive. Prune lightly right after bloom if you need to shape it, and leave it alone otherwise. Deer and rabbits pass it by.
The open flowers are worked hard by bumblebees and small native bees for pollen (hypericums offer no nectar), which makes it a useful shrub for a dry, sunny bank where little else flowers in July. Plant it 3 to 4 feet apart for a low informal hedge.
These dates are for Zone 6b. Enter your ZIP to time every job to your own frost dates.
- watch · Any time in summerEnjoy golden-yellow flowers with prominent stamens through early summer
- cut · Any time in summerPrune lightly right after flowering if needed; later pruning removes next year's buds