Approximately 200 seeds per packet
Collected & Packaged: 2025
Germination code: C60
Please refer to our germination codes and growing information for recommendations and tips.
Seed treatment recommended: this species requires a minimum of 60 days of cold moist stratification to break its natural dormancy and encourage germination. Alternatively, sow seeds in outdoor containers in the fall or winter, with germination occurring in the spring.
Surface sow only: this species has small or tiny, dust-particle-sized seeds that require light to germinate. Sown seed should only be sprinkled over the surface of pre-moistened soil, and not covered or buried beneath the soil. Water lightly with a light spray or mist to keep the soil moist. Be careful when watering before germination occurs to not bury the seeds.
Hypericum punctatum (Spotted St. John's Wort) Seed Packet
Virginia ecotype
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Upright, branching, clump-forming
Size: 1–3 ft tall, often 1–2 ft wide
Flowering Time: July–September
Bloom Color: Yellow with small black dots on petals
Habitat: Open woods, meadows, roadsides, fields, prairies, and other sunny to lightly shaded open areas
Moisture: Average to moist; well-drained soils
Light: Full sun to part sun, best in full sun but needs more moisture
Soils: Sandy, loamy, or gravelly; tolerant of poor soils
Uses: Pollinator gardens, low wild meadows, erosion control, ditches and rain gardens, cottage gardens
Hypericum punctatum is known commonly as Spotted St. John's Wort. A delicate, upright clump-forming perennial with slender stems topped with clusters of bright yellow blooms. The flowers and leaves are speckled with translucent or black dots, giving the species its name.
Spotted St. John's Wort typically forms loose colonies in moist meadows, open woods, streambanks, rocky and disturbed soils, and roadside seepages. It thrives in disturbed soils, and areas with consistent well-draining moisture but at least partial sun. Its blooming period extends for a month mid-summer into early fall, with flowers opening on warm days and attracting a diverse suite of small pollinators.
Small native sweat bees, along with syrphid flies, are the primary visitors to the pollen-rich flowers. Plants of the Hypericum family are not often browsed by herbivores due to containing the compound called hypericin.