Hypericum

Useful shrubs with bright berries and foliage as well as flowers

Once the darling of 1970s low-maintenance gardens, the appeal of shrubby hypericum, or St John’s wort, has perhaps been unjustly eclipsed in an era where perennial is king. But things are starting to change and it’s all due to developments in one species, H. inodorum, a 90cm (3ft) high and wide bushy, deciduous, shrubby perennial.