St. John’s Wort

Thriving even challenging conditions, Saint John’s Wort is a hardy perennial nourishing the soil as well as rebuilding nerves and assuaging depression.  Easy to start from seed, Saint John’s Wort flowers abundantly even on their 2-foot first -year spires, easily growing 3 feet or more in subsequent seasons. Saint John’s Wort sweetly blossoms around summer solstice, June 21st; the common name is a tip of the hat to the Saint John, celebrated (most exuberantly in Estonia!) on June 24th. Lift the vivid blossoms to the sky, right next to your eye: dozens of tiny pores perforate each petal, magically letting the light through.

Medicinally, Saint John’s Wort’s ebullient flowers are most potent just as they open. Often infused in oil, combined with beeswax for salve or tinctured in alcohol or glycerin, their lemon yellow flowers turn all of these mediums rich, deep red! For thousands of years, organic Saint John’s Wort has been combined with calendula and arnica for a powerful trio relieving pain, fighting infection, promoting nerve reparation and speeding innate healing. Native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa, Saint John’s Wort was introduced to North America in the early 1900s and has peaceably naturalized everywhere except California, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Washington, where we discourage you from planting seeds…though with a little hunting you’ll soon find some, especially around summer solstice.