Plant Library

Other Names:  American Senna, Indian Senna

Description:

This native perennial produces dense clusters of sunny yellow flowers over a mound of airy light green foliage; non-aggressive and non-invasive, a great choice for the garden or border; remove faded flower heads to maintain appearance

Ornamental Features

Wild Senna features showy racemes of yellow cup-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid to late summer. Its oval pinnately compound leaves emerge chartreuse in spring, turning light green in color. The foliage often turns yellow in fall.

Landscape Attributes

Wild Senna is an open herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Disease

Wild Senna is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Wild Senna will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 5 feet. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This species is native to parts of North America. It can be propagated by division.

Wild Senna is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.