Hypericum (St. John’s Wort)

This is the Gardens’ most recently appointed National Collection, gaining this status in 2014. Encouraged by curator, David Jewell – an expert in the genus, it was also a part of a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) trial several years ago. RHS trials are held to determine garden worthiness and introduce possible new species and cultivars to cultivation.

The collection contains 197 individual plants, including many wild collected specimens and rare species supplied from renowned gardens, such as Windsor, Kew, Edinburgh and the RHS. The trial also saw the introduction of several new cultivars, including H. oxyphyllum ‘Golden-ness’ and H. henryi sbsp. henryi ‘John Hillier’.

These plants often have ornamental, fleshy berries, which are typically red, but can be pink or white in some varieties.

Rare species include the seldom seen H. augustinii, which is native to China, and H. monogynum, from China and Taiwan.