# Golden St. John's-wort (Hypericum frondosum) > A rounded shrub of limestone glades with blue-green leaves and golden flowers up to 1.75 inches across, each a brush of stamens, in June and July. Also called cedar glade St. John's-wort. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/golden-st-johns-wort/ ![Golden St. John's-wort (Hypericum frondosum) yellow flower with a dense brush of stamens on a cliff](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/golden-st-johns-wort-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Mason Brock, Public domain ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHypericum_frondosum.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 2 to 10 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8 - Grows wild in: Rocky ground and dry uplands - Native range: 11 states, north to Indiana, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas). Also recorded in 4 other states, outside its native range - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Showy flowers, Drought tolerant, Wildlife value - 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 Golden St. John's-wort is a shrub of the limestone cedar glades, cliffs and barrens at the southwestern end of the Appalachians, from Kentucky and Tennessee south to Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Its golden flowers hold a dense brush of 250 to 650 stamens above blue-green leaves, and reddish-brown bark peels from the older stems. It is gone from Indiana, at the north edge of its range. Grow it as a low hedge or in a sunny border on well-drained ground, where its flowers carry the garden through June and July. ## Size, growth and what to expect Golden St. John's-wort grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a dense, rounded shrub 3 to 4 feet tall and as wide in gardens, and wild plants reach 10 feet. Its blue-green leaves run up to 3 inches long. The shrub can be short-lived. Golden yellow flowers 1 to 1.75 inches across open in June and July, alone or a few together at the branch tips. The reddish-brown capsules ripen in September and hang on well into winter, and songbirds eat some of the seed. It grows wild at the southwestern end of the Appalachians, from Kentucky and Tennessee south to Georgia, Alabama and Texas, and it has been lost from Indiana. Its home is dry cedar glades, limestone cliffs, rocky hills and barrens on limestone and limy shale. Garden plants have run wild in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. ## How to grow Golden St. John's-wort Golden St. John's-wort grows in full sun or part shade, in a well-drained sandy, loamy or shallow rocky soil. It does best in a rich, sandy loam and takes some drought once rooted. Set plants 3 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 the mulch clear of the stems. Seed needs no treatment. Sow it in spring on damp soil and cover it with an eighth to a quarter inch of soil. In a warm greenhouse, seedlings come up in two to three weeks. Water weekly through the first summer, and mulch the roots in winter where it is cold. Hard winters can kill the tops back, but the roots send up new shoots. It still blooms, since the flowers form on new wood. Prune it in spring. Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Bees and other pollinators visit the flowers, and in gardens it sometimes crosses with shrubby St. John's-wort. Wilt and root rot can be serious in hot, humid summers, and nematodes can bring on the rot. Leaf spot, mildew and rust are less of a threat. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 6: Hypericum frondosum, Golden St. John's wort (Norman K. B. Robson)](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100843) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Hypericum frondosum](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-frondosum/) - [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Hypericum frondosum 'Sunburst'](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=249054&isprofile=0&pt=4) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Hypericum frondosum, Cedarglade St. John's-wort, Golden St. John's-wort](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HYFR) - [Native Plant Network, John Vandevender, USDA NRCS Appalachian Plant Materials Center, 2017: Hypericum frondosum](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=clusiaceae-hypericum) - [NatureServe Explorer: Hypericum frondosum, Golden St. John's-wort](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151828/Hypericum_frondosum) - [Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana, 10/29/2025](https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-etrplants.pdf) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Hypericum frondosum, HYFR](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/HYFR) ## 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 birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Golden St. John's-wort, add ?species=golden-st-johns-wort with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=golden-st-johns-wort&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Golden St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=golden-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=golden-st-johns-wort - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Golden 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=golden-st-johns-wort - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Golden 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=golden-st-johns-wort:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Golden St. John's-wort flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.