# Blue Ridge St. John's-wort (Hypericum buckleyi)

> A low mat of small leaves and inch-wide golden flowers for a sunny rock garden, from the high peaks of the southern Blue Ridge.

Also called Buckley's St. John's-wort, mountain St. John's-wort. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blue-ridge-st-johns-wort/

![Blue Ridge St. John's-wort (Hypericum buckleyi) low mat of golden flowers spilling against a granite rock](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/blue-ridge-st-johns-wort-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Fortune_urno, CC BY-SA 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHypericum_buckleyi.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 to 2 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8
- Grows wild in: The Appalachians and rocky ground
- Native range: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Showy flowers, Rare
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Blue Ridge St. John's-wort is a low shrub of the high peaks of the southern Blue Ridge, in North Carolina, northern Georgia and, once, South Carolina. It grows in seeps, moist crevices of granite outcrops and grassy balds, from about 3,000 to 5,200 feet up. Unlike its upright nearest relative, shrubby St. John's-wort, it creeps and roots along the ground into a dense mat. NatureServe ranks it vulnerable, and it is gone from South Carolina. Tuck it into a sunny rock garden, a wall or a path edge, where its golden flowers spill over the stones in early summer.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth. Its nearest relative, shrubby St. John's-wort, is rated slow, so our growth estimator treats it as slow, about a foot a year. It makes a low, spreading mat, mostly under a foot tall and at most about a foot and a half, and 9 to 18 inches across. Its oval leaves are up to an inch long, with dots that show clear when held to the light.

Golden yellow flowers about an inch across open at the branch tips in June and July, sometimes into August. They come alone or in clusters of up to five, each with about 100 stamens. Egg-shaped capsules a third to half an inch long follow.

It grows wild in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and northern Georgia, at about 3,000 to 5,200 feet, and it once grew in South Carolina. Its home is seeps, moist rock crevices, granite outcrops and grassy balds, and it also takes to road banks and ditches. Hikers wear down some stands along trails.

## How to grow Blue Ridge St. John's-wort

Blue Ridge St. John's-wort wants full sun and a moist, gritty soil that drains quickly, like the seeps and rock crevices it grows in. It rots in soggy ground. Set plants 2 feet apart and 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep mulch off the stems. Many St. John's-worts need light to sprout, so press the fine seed onto damp, gritty soil in spring without covering it.

Water weekly through the first summer. Its stems root where they touch the ground, so the mat widens with time. It needs no pruning.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Soil that stays wet can bring root rot, but no pest is known to trouble it.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 6: Hypericum buckleyi, Mountain St. John's wort (Norman K. B. Robson)](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100856)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Hypericum buckleyi](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=439178&isprofile=0)
- [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Hypericum buckleii, Blue Ridge St. John's-wort](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=21435)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Hypericum buckleii, Blue Ridge St. John's-wort](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.140682/Hypericum_buckleii)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Hypericum prolificum](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-prolificum/)
- [North Carolina Natural Heritage Program: 2024 Rare Plant List, revised 11/03/2025](https://www.ncnhp.org/media/833/open)
- [NatureServe Explorer, genus statement for Hypericum, from the Hypericum lissophloeus record](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.136635/Hypericum_lissophloeus)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Hypericum buckleii, HYBU](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/HYBU)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Blue Ridge St. John's-wort, add ?species=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Blue Ridge St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Blue Ridge St. John's-wort is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Blue Ridge St. John's-wort needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=blue-ridge-st-johns-wort:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Blue Ridge St. John's-wort flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.