What Hannibal Lecter said in Silence of the Lambs is true: coveting begins with what we see every day. And when I'm out walking in my neighborhood, admiring the things I see growing in my neighbor's yards, I sometimes find myself wishing I had the same plant. Thus it was with Hypericum f. 'Sunburst' (St. John's Wort—the shrub, not the herb). After long noticing it in a nearby garden, I finally broke down and got one of my own.
As with most new plants, I had to figure out what was normal behavior, and what wasn't. The fact that it died back to the ground late last autumn? Apparently that's normal, kind of like my beloved Caryopteris 'Snow Fairy'.
Hypericum forms a nice, medium-sized shrub with leaves that remind me of eucalyptus. This year it started blooming in early July, and stopped around early September. It didn't flower as prolifically as the neighbor's plant, or get as large, but this was really its first full year in the yard, so it'll take a little time to get established.
I had appreciated its bright yellow flowers from a distance, but really like them up close, especially the gazillion filaments, like a firework exploding. Hey, maybe that's why this variety is called 'Sunburst'!
Hypericum forms a nice, medium-sized shrub with leaves that remind me of eucalyptus. This year it started blooming in early July, and stopped around early September. It didn't flower as prolifically as the neighbor's plant, or get as large, but this was really its first full year in the yard, so it'll take a little time to get established.
I had appreciated its bright yellow flowers from a distance, but really like them up close, especially the gazillion filaments, like a firework exploding. Hey, maybe that's why this variety is called 'Sunburst'!
