So the sun has finally stopped shining in the great Northwest and the rain has begun to fall. Nothing is better than that first night of rainfall, when the window is open and the noise of dropping, dripping water comes gushing in. I forgot how loud the rain is. Soothing is the sound after three months of drought. If you like amazing pictures of our universe, check out one of my new favorite websites, Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Here is a shrub that is kind of different. Hypericum, or St. Johhn’s Wort, has a colorful display of berries in the fall. When the flowers are still blooming and some berries have formed, it’s a pretty combination. The berry colors come in red, green, orange, yellow and pink. They eventually fade to black and this happened rather too quickly with ours at the nursery. Maybe the long season of sun and drought contributed to this, but I’m not sure. These Hypericum are in the ‘magical’ series and were originally bred in Holland for the cut flower trade. They are deciduous or semi-evergreen.
Just the Facts
Grows in zones 5-9
Three feet tall and wide (1m)
Exposure Full Sun
Deer Resistant, Drought Tolerant, Good for Cutting
Rust Resistant
It’s also the season for some hungry, munching cabbage worms. These little green caterpillars come from the Cabbage Moth and were having an unsupervised party on this ornamental cabbage. We called the cops and broke up the festivities.
Rainyleaf 
I know what you mean about the rain – it is loud! And I love it too! Those caterpillars, on the other hand, are nasty.
I have the same Hypericum in my garden, and the berries have been beautiful this year. They are tough little plants! I had lots of these caterpillars on my geraniums this year – but not that many on one plant! The problem is that the cabbage white butterflies love certain flowers in my garden… the pros and cons of gardening!
I’m glad to learn the name of those red berries, having seen them in many floral arrangements. Enjoy the rains–it must be a relief.
My St John’s is new this year and I am not seeing many berries as we had only a few blooms once they were planted late…but I will look forward to them next year…the lovely cabbage white laid her eggs all over my kale…and they moved to the lettuces…
I’m looking forward to seeing this Hypericum during the rest of the year, but the berries are beautiful when they are bright and colorful. When they turn black on the other hand, it’s not pretty!