Hypericums are grown for their showy, normally cup-shaped, or star-like, many-stamened, yellow flowers, during summer and autumn. Happy in sun or part shade on most soils. They have opposite, neat foliage, normally growing as trees and shrubs, but there are some herbaceous species (H. olympicum) which make good additions to the dry or rock garden.
A readily recognizable genus, Hypericum flowers all come with abundant pollen and nectar that attract bumblebees, honeybees and other pollinators. Some of the shrubby species produce berries that are eaten by garden birds. The black and/or translucent glands that cover all parts of many Hypericums contain chemicals that deter generalist herbivores, including insects, although as always there are some specialists such as leaf-beetles that manage to evade such defences.