|
Aaron's Beard; or, |
Most of the Hypericum species go by the common name "St. John's Wort" named for John the Baptist, but the name "Aaron's Beard" is commonly used of H. calycinum & takes its inspiration from Psalm 133:2 regarding "the precious ointment upon the head, running down upon the beard, running down upon the beard of Aaron, running down upon the hem of his garment," which some have read to indicate that Aaron's beard grew to the hem of his priestly robe.
The Psalm alludes to the ointment with which Moses anointed his brother to establish the priestly lineage [Exodus 29:7; 30:25-31]. The assumption is that an oil extracted from Hypericum was used in a mixture with other aromatic oils in the manufacture of the ointment of sacred consecration. To fail to take care of one's beard was a sign of insanity [1 Samuel 21:13], & any injury to or cutting of one's beard signified disgrace [2 Samuel 10:4] or grief [Isaiah 15:2; Jeremiah 48:37]. Hence Aaron's lengthy & anointed beard indicated a state of perfect grace, an idea taken quite seriously in Islamic faith as well as Judaic.
As a native wildflower of Bulgaria & Turkey, Aaron's Beard is not at all likely to have been a source of the actual consecrating oil of the priestly class. The species gained its association not for the sake of its extracts, but because the large five-petaled brightly golden flower has the most awesome fuzzy stamens, like a yellow fluff, quite like a tuft of hair, or a beard. Its flowering strength can be awesome.Especially in the UK, Aaron's Beard is occasionally called by another biblically referential name, Rose of Sharon. Scripture's Rose of Sharon, however, was a flowering bulb, most likely a daffodil (specifically, Narcissus tazetta). But as a modern common name, Rose of Sharon has in North America become most strongly identified with Hibiscus syriacus. For an additional photo of Aaron's Beard & for a full consideration of the great body of Rose of Sharon myths, see my essay on The Mythological Associations of the Rose of Sharon.
The leaves are a bright light green, paler with a netting pattern on the underside. It is evergreen here in temperate zone 8, but will die back in winter in cold climates, nevertheless doing very well down to zone 5. The second photo shows it early in May before its buds are particularly swollen, showing how pleasant it can be as a creeping shrub even apart from its blooming season. The third photo shows the rapidly developing buds later in May.
While other species of Hypericum are floppy or fountaining sub-shrubs, Aaron's Beard is more nearly a creeping vine. It can spread by its rhizomes to cover an extensive area, but rarely lifts its prostrate twigs higher than a foot or eighteen inches. A quarter-block away from us across the street is an extensive area of half-wild stretches of Aaron's Beard that are heaped higher than this average, by piling itself creeping vine atop creeping vine.Because this vine is capable of really taking over a sunny area & displacing other plants, we've planted only one of them in a contained location & would not consider using such an invasive species as a groundcover. It is over-used along roadsides, where for my own tastes I'd rather see mixed xeriscape plantings than great expanses of Aaron's Beard.
But that is not to say I am not fond of Aaron's Beard; it is a beautiful flower & I love that it is named for Aaron the brother of Miriam & Moses, all three of whom I rather cherish. About Miriam especially, given a willing ear that wouldn't be bored to death, I can tell strange mystical tales of the Exodus drawn from midrashim (the "sacred lies" or fairy lore that takes all its touchstones from Torah, the Bible). I love the legends attached to many of the plants in the gardens around our home, & I do sometimes suspect I would plant even something ugly-ass if its common name was Bathsheba. Which is not to say I'm particularly religious; some people fell in love with The Lord of the Rings & never got over that one great work in their whole lives. I fell in love with Torah, & I get from it what others get from science fiction, plus a lot more that informs our society's arts, culture & imagination.
Our one specimen of Aaron's beard shown in the first three photos is surrounded by rugosa roses which keep it from spreading. If it does ever seem to be climbing too high amidst the roses, Aaron's Beard takes well to a radical shearing to keep it compact, low-growing, & flowery. The second set of three photos were taken in mid-June from two of the three huge half-wild patches of Aaron's beard growing across the street & further down our block. If those yards were mine I'd get rid of nine-tenths of the Aaron's Beard & plant a variety of things where presently a single species is predominant. Even so, one has to admit it's a dramatic groundcover.It is so invasive because it is a wild species rather than a cultivar, yet as a complete dense groundcover it is the most effective of all the hypericums. It should be cut back early each spring both because it flowers only on new limbs, & so that it will not get too awfully leggy or spread too burdensomely out of hand. For an excellent alternative to Aaron's Beard, there is a highly recommendable hybrid cultivar which preserves the enormity of the H. calycinum flower, though the "beard" isn't quite so fluffy, namely H. x 'Hidcote.'
By no means fussy about conditions, it's very drought-hardy. It is slightly less flowery in dappled sunlight or bright shade, where it is even more drought-hardy. It will do well enough in deeper shade, too, though with fewer blossoms. It does well in rich humusy soil or in poorer alkaline soil, being extremely adaptable.
Because of its fast-spreading stoloniferous root system it is sometimes used to firm up embankments. However, though it survives droughty neglected locations, it rarely looks its best when used in no-care parking lots, where it doesn't get its spring shearing or the occasional watering it requires to bloom its best.