Senna Species, Wild Cassia, Wild Senna

I finally got two of these this spring. I was concerned early on because the bare roots were not coming out of dormancy. Maybe it was e...Read Morestablishing underground, because now I have two beautiful flowering plants on the south side of the house. For the most part, my natives and beneficial aliens have free reign of the property, so I am not too concerned about spreading seedlings. About the only time I pull any is if they stray into the produce patches, but that hasn't been too much of a trouble.

I was giving some friends a garden tour late May and pointed out this plant. One of the ladies in the medical profession asked, "Laxative plant?" when I mentioned Wild Senna. Haha! Yes, that's what it was used for medicinally. She sees Senna on some patients' prescription lists.

I bought a small Wild Senna two years ago at Garden in the Woods, Massachusetts, and it has thriven here in Somerville, MA. The soil is ...Read Morepartially reclaimed, "minimally maintained" (this is a guerrilla garden) land--much clay, gravel, rock--plus topsoil and compost that I've been adding slowly. The light is partial sun (shielded in the late afternoon). The Wild Senna, so far, has happily survived one year of bad flooding and one moderately cold winter. Am hopeful that it will have survived this year's heavy snowfall. It grows to slightly above six feet, with very full foliage and lovely golden blossoms. So far, no seedlings, but I've harvested the seeds and hope to plant them in other "minimally maintained" areas nearby (with some help and watering from me). The more seedlings the better! This soil needs plants that will help to replenish it.

I planted Wild Senna 3 years ago in my garden. It grows to 5 feet he tall here in CT - My concern is that each year there are more and m...Read Moreore seedlings that appear in the garden.. many of them so well rooted that they are difficult to weed out. The seedlings have also found their way throughout my 3/4 acre lot.
I pulled out the plants last fall and still have many seedlings creeping up! This is a very lovely plant but I believe it requires some caution!

I bought this plant from a local nursery and planted it on a retaining wall terrace where it gets full sun, which I assumed would be idea...Read Morel since it is a prairie species. It is, but this summer I discovered a seedling that planted itself in a shady location where I had placed some of the abundant seed capsules last fall when I cut the plant back late in the season. I have also found tiny seedlings growing near my garden shed where there is essentially no sun. It's a native species that appears very adaptable. I'll see how the plants in the shady sites do next year and let you know.