St. John's Wort

Forms attractive groundcover with bright yellow flowers from June-September. Excellent for sunny borders, wildflower meadows, and naturalistic plantings. Self-seeds readily, creating drifts of golden blooms. Works well in gravel gardens and dry slopes.

Renowned medicinal herb primarily used for mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety. Contains hypericin and hyperforin compounds. Traditionally used as oil infusion for wound healing, nerve pain, and burns. CAUTION: Causes photosensitivity and interacts with many medications.

Not typically used in cooking due to bitter taste and medicinal potency. Flowers sometimes used to make herbal teas, though primarily consumed medicinally. Some use flowers to create red-tinged infused oil for external use only.

Native to Europe, naturalized worldwide. Attracts numerous pollinators, especially bees and hover flies. Considered invasive in some regions. Tolerates poor soils and helps stabilize disturbed ground.

Perennial herb 30-90cm tall with distinctive paired, oval leaves appearing perforated when held to light (oil glands). Five-petaled yellow flowers with black dots on petal edges. Stems become woody at base, reddish-brown. Crushed flowers produce red juice.

Not used for timber - herbaceous perennial with only semi-woody stems at base. Historically, dried plants were hung in homes during St. John's Eve to ward off evil spirits.

Named after St. John the Baptist as it flowers around his feast day (June 24). The perforations in leaves led to Doctrine of Signatures use for wounds. The red oil from crushed flowers was called St. John's blood.