Hypericum myrtifolium 'Georgia Girl'

I'll never understand why some great native plants like Hypericum myrtifolium are completely overlooked by both the nursery industry and home gardeners. I met the lovely Hypericum myrtifolium in 2001 while botanizing in Pierce County, Georgia. There she was, growing in a moist cutover woodland, teeming with more snakes than I've seen in one place since watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark." In our garden, we plant new plants in conditions unlike where we find them in the wild, so after 16 years in our full sun rock garden surrounded by cactus and agaves, we are thrilled to share. This cutting grown clone, which we named Hypericum 'Georgia Girl' forms a woody/perennial shrublet to 15" tall x 35" wide. The plants flower heavy in spring, sporadically in summer, and heavy again in fall, still going strong for us in mid-November. The terminal clusters are home to several dozen small rosy red buds that open to 3/4" wide flowers, each composed of five yellow petals, and a gazillion yellow stamens clustered in the center like a yellow fiber optic lamp...seriously far out! After winter temperatures in the single digits F, Hypericum 'Georgia Girl' has proved perennial for us.