Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'
Hypericum frondosum 'Sunburst' · Hypericaceae
Golden-yellow flowers, each filled with a pompom of stamens, cover a neat mound of blue-green leaves in early summer. The bark peels in cinnamon strips.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late July
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'
The planner designed this bed around golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' × 1, yellow
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 14, pink
- 3 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 11, pink
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Musk mallow × 3, white
- 6 Spurge 'Blackbird' × 3, purple leaves
- 7 Star of Persia × 2, purple
- 8 Hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to musk mallow (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late June to late July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' and star of Persia in late June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 49% of the visual weight and the right half 51%. Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' is planted in four places along the bed, which gives it rhythm. The plan meets all 17 of the design principles it was checked against, and is Excellent in four categories.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A native shrub for hot, dry, poor soil, and a favourite of bumblebees, which come for the pollen. It keeps a tidy, rounded shape without pruning.
- Dry, sunny banks
- Bees
- A low, rounded shrub at the front
What to plant with golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for six weeks, from late June; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
- Purple coneflower: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks.
Questions about golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'
Does golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' need sun or shade?
Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 7 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Mid June to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3½ ft (100 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. All parts are poisonous if eaten, and can make the skin of animals blister in sunlight.
Rated from NC State Extension and the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'?
These come closest to doing what golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- New Jersey tea: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; white, not yellow.
- Rose 'Julia Child': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6 in narrower, flowers mid June to early October.
- Shrubby cinquefoil 'Goldfinger': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early June to mid September, fine leaves, not medium.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after golden St John's wort 'Sunburst'?
Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' is over by late July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Garden phlox: from mid July to early September, 3½ ft tall.
What does golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' look like in winter?
Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' good for bees and butterflies?
Golden St John's wort 'Sunburst' is visited by pollinators, bees and butterflies.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Hypericum
- Aaron's beard Hypericum calycinum
- Kalm's St John's wort Hypericum kalmianum
- St John's wort 'Hidcote' Hypericum 'Hidcote'
In these guides
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3½ ft (100 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to late July; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; blue-green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Hypericaceae
- Comes from
- South East U.S.A. to Texas
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.