Lunaria annua Plant Particulars Zones: 3-9 Height: 3 ft Spread: 12-15 inches Shape: upright spray Color: white to purple Bloom time: late spring, followed by decorative seed pods Light needs: full sun to part shade Soil: moist, well drained Special Note: most often grown for the decorative pods, which are white and translucent when dried. Also called the silver dollar plant, this species is grown not so much for the purple flowers that appear in early spring—although they are quite welcome—as for the translucent seedpods that follow. Plant honesty once, and provided that you can resist harvesting every last one of the pods, it will self-sow reliably. Learn to recognize the rather ordinary first-year rosettes of leaves, or plant honesty in a woods' edge where you will not inadvertently pull the self-sown seedlings out, and you will always be in the money. Hang the harvested branches to dry, and then gently rub off the outer coverings of the pods to reveal the luminous sprays of silver dollars. The seeds that fall can be saved or scattered.
|
