St. Johnswort Mystical series

Red fruits of St. Johnswort ‘Mystical Red Star.’

* Common name: St. Johnswort Mystical(TM) series

* Botanical name: Hypericum inodorum

* What it is: A new-in-2009 series of compact flowering shrubs that get yellow summer flowers and then large, bird-attracting late-summer and fall fruits. Comes in five varieties, each with different color fruits. Was actually bred for the cut-flower industry.

* Size: 3 feet tall, 4 feet wide.

* Where to use: Good choice for sunny to partly shaded mixed garden, such as along a border or in an island bed. Attractive enough for use in foundation beds and can be massed on a bank.

* Care: Cut winter-killed branches back to about 6 inches at winter’s end. New shoots will poke up later in spring. These are slow to come back to life, so be patient. Annual spring scattering of balanced, organic, granular fertilizer is helpful. Leaves will brown with fall frost but not fall off quickly… some neat gardeners prefer to manually strip off leaves. Japanese beetles sometimes eat leaves in July.

* Great partner: Gaillardia ‘Oranges and Lemons’ or coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ or ‘Golden Gain.’