Hypericum

Thanks Lycopus! I narrowed it down to 70 species in VA...but nothing is quite matching the leaf shape and the red stem....could you give me a wild guess? I'm thinking of collecting some seeds but if I find out it's another invasive I won't be helping it...it will be on its own! It's another huge hit w/the bees!

Hypericum punctatum and H. perforatum are two very common species and it might be one of those. Personally I would try finding a source or plants or seed of a more desirable species, such as H. prolificum or H. kalmianum.

Thanks Lycopus....and just one more ? The species I have here seems to have a typically red stem. I am not here in midsummer to see the flowers and was wondering if possibly this plant starts out w/a green stem which changes colour through the season? Or is red a characteristic of this particular species because so far I haven't seen any w/red stems.

The stem likely starts out green.