Our friends’ Hypericum is blooming.  Aren’t these flowers pretty?  Each one is about 2 1/2 inches across, and the bush is covered in them.  

 

Their plants are low growing bushes, and full of flowers and flower buds.  Of course the deer love it, as you can see examples of deer “nibblage.”  But each time they bite off the end of a branch, two more little branches grow back.  So this bush just keeps getting bushier.  

 

I’ve even seen it used in landscape plantings at interstate rest areas in Virginia and North Carolina.  

 

Hypericum is also called St. John’s Wort, and has been used since the times of the ancient Greeks.  Herbalists still employ extracts from St. John’s Wort to treat bruises, skin irritations, and other wounds.  It has long been thought to have soothing properties, making it useful in the treating of wounds.  

 

I wouldn’t suggest using it medicinally, unless you really know how to prepare and use the plant parts.  Which I don’t, but I do love seeing it in bloom.  I guess that’s part of their soothing property:  making us smile.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!