Wild Senna
Senna hebecarpa
Six to eight feet of bold foliage and bright yellow midsummer bloom. Host plant for sulphur butterflies, worked constantly by bumblebees.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
A large, bold native for wet borders with sulphur butterfly hosting, bumblebee value, and the nitrogen-fixing roots that build soil over time.
Wild senna is the taller sibling of southern senna: it can reach 6–8 feet in rich, moist conditions, creating a substantial back-of-border presence with bold compound leaves and bright yellow flowers through midsummer. Like southern senna, it's a host plant for cloudless sulphur, orange sulphur, and sleepy orange butterflies, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on senna leaves. The clusters of yellow blooms are worked constantly by bumblebees buzzing to release pollen. It naturalizes in moist to wet areas along stream banks and woodland edges, spreading by seed to fill in over time. The large, persistent seed pods turn dark brown and stay on the stems through winter, adding structural interest when the garden is otherwise bare.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown wild senna propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 5–8 ft · 36–48 in wide
- Bloom time
- Midsummer, late summer
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Native range
- Eastern United States
Care notes for wild senna.
Full sun to part shade in moist to average, fertile soil. Best in moist conditions. tolerates occasional wet feet. Cut back in fall. Self-seeds; remove seedlings if needed. Nitrogen-fixing roots improve soil. May become quite tall in rich conditions; stake in windy exposures if needed.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside wild senna.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.