St. Andrew's-cross

Year-round

St. Andrew's cross is a native low shrub with an open, airy shape that fits well in a front yard bed near Jacksonville. It stays compact, needs little water once settled in, and blooms with small yellow cross-shaped flowers for much of the growing season.

• Grows about 1 to 3 feet tall and wide with a thin, open habit, not a dense hedge shape.
• Wants full sun to light afternoon shade. In our hot Jacksonville summers, a little afternoon shade is fine and won't hurt flowering.
• Low water needs once established. It tolerates both the sandy well-drained soils and the occasional wet spell common in the Southeastern Plains near the coast.
• Confirmed native to this part of Florida (native range includes FL) by Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the USDA PLANTS database.
• Foliage is semi-evergreen here. Expect it to hold most leaves through a typical mild Jacksonville winter, with some drop after a harder cold snap.

Fall

Blooming tapers off through fall as days shorten. It's also a good, low-stress time to divide or move an established plant before winter sets in.

• Flowers taper off through October, with small seed capsules forming behind the last blooms.
• Leave some seed capsules if you want the plant to fill in on its own, or trim them off for a tidier look.
• Fall is a good, low-stress window to divide or transplant an established clump before winter.
• A light trim of any leggy stems now keeps the plant compact heading into winter.

A fall trim of leggy growth keeps the bed looking tidy through the winter months.

Winter

Jacksonville's winters are mild, zone 9b with only occasional hard freezes, so St. Andrew's cross usually holds most of its leaves through the season with just light dieback after a cold snap.

• In a typical mild Jacksonville winter, the plant holds most of its leaves rather than going fully bare.
• An occasional hard freeze can brown or drop some leaves. Leave that growth in place over winter, since it helps protect the stems underneath.
• Save any harder pruning for late winter, right before new growth starts, rather than cutting back mid-winter.
• No fertilizer is needed over winter. This plant is adapted to the low-nutrient sandy soils of the Southeastern Plains and doesn't need feeding to get through the cold months.

Winter leaf color can look a bit ragged after a cold snap. Hold off on a full trim until new growth starts in late winter so the bed doesn't sit bare.

Spring

Spring is prune-and-shape season for St. Andrew's cross in Jacksonville. New growth pushes out once the last frost risk passes in mid-February, and this is also a good, low-stress window to divide an established clump.

• Late winter into early spring, just before new growth starts, is the best time to prune out dead wood and shape the plant.
• If the clump has gotten overgrown or you want to start a new planting, spring division works well right as new growth begins.
• New leaves and stems flush out through March and April as our humid growing season ramps up.
• If a late-winter freeze browned any tips, wait for new growth to show before trimming, then cut back to the live wood.

A light spring shaping keeps the plant's naturally open form looking neat along a front bed edge.

Summer

Summer is the main bloom season for St. Andrew's cross, with small yellow flowers opening through Jacksonville's hot, humid months. Established plants get by on rainfall alone.

• Flowering runs from around June into early fall, with four narrow yellow petals forming the plant's namesake cross shape.
• Established plants handle Jacksonville's summer heat and afternoon thunderstorms without extra watering.
• Good drainage matters more than watering here. In our humid summers, soggy soil is a bigger risk to this plant than going dry.
• No deadheading is needed to keep new flowers coming.