Showing posts with label St. John's Wort. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. John's Wort. Show all posts

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Hypericum


Day 272: "Be careful what you wish for," isn't that how the saying goes? Back before I knew any better and had just bought my current home, I was looking for any kind of cheap or free landscaping plants to fill in an almost empty yard. I'd seen this plant at my husband's parents' home and liked its efficiency as a low-growing ground cover. The parking lot at the local K-Mart had borders of it, so one day, I packed my trusty trowel and a pair of snips, intent on making a quick raid for a handful of starts. It wasn't quite as easy to effect as it sounds. The roots travel a long ways, but eventually, I was able to dig out a few lengths. That should have been a clue, but I was young and innocent, and blithely unaware of Hypericum's tendency to spread rampantly, and its sheer dogged persistence once established. I've given up trying to eradicate it, and these days, I keep it in check with savage mowing, the only recourse short of dropping an atomic bomb on it, and I suspect it might even survive that measure.

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Hypericum


Day 325: The genus Hypericum contains almost 500 species, all of which can be generically termed "St. John's Wort," and includes a wide variety of growth habits from tree-like to woody-stemmed plants which may be annual or perennial. Gardeners are most likely to recognize Hypericum calycinum, a prostrate shrub or ground cover which bears 2" diameter flowers. It blooms almost continuously from early summer into September. While attractive, it is aggressive, spreading by sending out long stolons to emerge several feet away from the parent plant; however, it is this very nature which makes it a good choice for parking strips, driveway borders or in my case, beneath the lowest rails of my rustic fence. No need to search a nursery for it! It starts readily from any piece bearing a rootlet. Just be sure you put it somewhere it won't encroach on your neighbour's yard.