Pumpkin St. Johns Wort

Light Needs

Partial Shade to Full Sun

(At Least 3 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

3 Feet

Mature Spread

2 Feet

Growing Zones

5 to 8

Pumpkin St John’s Wort is one versatile plant. It is a shrub that can be cutback like a perennial. It can be grown in the garden in large groups to act as a ground cover, especially on slopes. It can be grown in a container year round with an ever changing backdrop of annuals. The yellow flowers attract  pollinators during the summer. The brilliant orange pumpkin like berries attract birds through the winter, All the while the semi-evergreen foliage changes from a very dark green to a rusty color after the first hard frost.

Hypericum are deer and rabbit resistant. Pumpkin is very rust resistant and will stay fresh looking all summer. Extra irrigation is only needed if this plant is grown in a container. Pumpkin St John’s Wort is good for hardiness zones 5-8. In all zones it will perform as a semi-evergreen with year round interest no matter where you place it. 

Pumpkin St John’s Wort Care

Soil needs for Hypericum are very broad. All soil textures  will support this plant. Moisture levels can be on the dry side of average. The pH levels it grows in can be acidic, neutral or alkaline. Sunny sites or part- shady sites are fine. Fertilizing is usually not needed. Low maintenance is real with this plant.

Annual pruning of Pumpkin St john’s Wort is merely a light haircut to keep the plants mounding habit and keep it out of the way of others. The best time of year for this light pruning is late in the winter after all of the berries are gone. If Hypericum has been neglected and seems to not be performing as well, a heavy cutting back will rejuvenate these low growing shrubs. 

Pumpkin St John’s Wort Spacing

Pumpkin grows to be 2-3 feet wide x 2.5-3 feet tall which makes it good for filling up large areas such as a bankside using as a specimen planted in a container. A spacing of 24-30 inches on center gives this shrub plenty of room to expand.