Choose St. John's wort by habit: a landscape shrub, a groundcover, a berry shrub, or great St. John's wort.
Choose a landscape shrub, a groundcover, a berry shrub, or great St. John's wort
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| A 3- to 4-foot yellow mound | A landscape shrub | Buying Aaron's beard and expecting a hedge |
| A 12-inch carpet on a slope | A groundcover kind | A Hidcote shrub in a tight edging strip |
| Yellow flowers, then colored fruit | A berry or tutsan shrub | Treating every Magical tag as a different species |
| An herbaceous perennial | Great St. John's wort | Expecting woody stems through winter |
Know your USDA hardiness zone before you pick a type of hypericum that will take your winter. Type your ZIP below.
2023 USDA ZIP listings (PRISM / USDA-ARS). Find Your USDA Hardiness Zone · Official USDA map.
Read the Latin. Habit is the choose, not the nursery pot size. [1] [2] Sun, drain, and watering stay on How to Grow St. John's Wort. [3] Skip common St. John's wort if you want a garden shrub — that weedy herb spreads by seed and rhizomes. [4]
Which St. John's wort should I plant?
Pick habit first: a landscape shrub, a groundcover, a berry shrub, or great St. John's wort. Skip the weedy herb.
Is common St. John's wort invasive?
Hypericum perforatum is a weedy herb in much of the United States. Do not plant it as a hedge. Choose a landscape shrub or a native kind instead.
Browse by kind
Landscape shrubs
Hidcote is the classic 3- to 4-foot landscape mound. Kalm is the native shrub class — denser, and not cut to the ground. Sunburst, bushy, and shrubby St. John's wort sit here too.
Groundcover St. John's wort
Aaron's beard is Aaron's beard, a 12-inch carpet that spreads by stolons. Tricolor is the low variegated form. Use it where you want a mat, not a hedge.
Berry and tutsan shrubs
Sweet Amber is tutsan: yellow flowers, then colored fruit. Magical White and the other Magical kinds are the usual cut-berry shrubs.
Great St. John's wort
Great St. John's wort is an herbaceous perennial. It dies to the ground each winter and is not a woody hedge.
Common weedy St. John's wort
Perforatum is the weedy herb with translucent leaf dots. Do not plant it as a hedge. That is the plant in herbal capsules.
Pick the group, then the cultivar. Extra shop names are not extra kinds. Hypearls and Olivia are common berry selections not in this catalog; treat them as berry shrubs if you grow one.
Not the weedy herb or Rose of Sharon
Common St. John's wort is Hypericum perforatum, with translucent dots in the leaves. It is the herbal plant, not a hedge. Rose of Sharon in U.S. nurseries is Hibiscus syriacus — see How to Grow Hibiscus. In some catalogs Aaron's beard is also sold as Rose of Sharon; that is still Hypericum calycinum, the groundcover group above.
Is Rose of Sharon a type of St. John's wort?
Not in U.S. garden centers. Rose of Sharon is Hibiscus. St. John's wort is Hypericum.
If you want a 12-inch carpet, buy a groundcover — a Hidcote shrub will not do that job.
FAQ
Is Hypearls in this list?
No. That berry series is not a card here. Treat it as a berry shrub if you grow one.
Is Aaron's beard invasive?
It spreads by stolons and can be hard to remove once it takes a bed. Use it where you want a mat, or pick a clumping landscape shrub instead.
Is Kalm the same as shrubby St. John's wort?
They are close native shrubs. Kalm is Hypericum kalmianum. Shrubby St. John's wort is Hypericum prolificum. Both sit in the landscape-shrub group.
Related guides
References
- [1] Piedmont Master Gardeners -
https://www.piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/st-johns-wort-learn-how-to-choose/ - [2] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-calycinum/ - [3] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-prolificum/ - [4] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-perforatum/
This note is part of Hypericum Guides.
More type comparisons by plant are gathered in Types of Plants Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors