Tag Archive: Honesty

Lunaria – Honesty – Hardy Biennual

Its April 23rd 2022 and I have sown seeds of purple Honesty. I used to have purple and white growing in the garden but they seem to have disappeared so another sowing was in order. They should take about 20 days to germinate. They are quite old seeds so as they are biannual I have sown more than I normally would incase of failures. They are quite tough plants though so I am hopeful of getting flowers from May/June in 2023. Once again I made the mistake in thinking that these plants would self seed and proliferate around the garden. I really need to concentrate on building up the soil.

Since Adam was poorly and consequently passed away I have let the garden go a bit so need to get some quality into the soil. I have two compost bins that need emptying so that should have been put all over the borders before the start of the growing season. It’s difficult to do when things start to grow because I don’t want to bury new seedlings. I will do what I can little by little and hope that I live long enough to see the results of my labour.

Honesty – Lunaria annua alba – Hardy Biennual

Today, 22nd March, I have sown seeds of this beautiful plant in damp compost and expect them to germinate in 21 days. It is described by Seekay, where the seeds came from, as a quick growing variety that will produce a profusion of fragrant white flowers that appear from May to June of the following year. Once the flowers go over the seed heads that are produced can be used in dried flower arrangements. The plants will reach an eventual height of approx 3′. Advice is to sow the seeds from April on the surface of a good quality damp seed compost. Cover with a light sprinkle of compost then enclose in a polythene bag to retain moisture. With a little heat the seeds should germinate in up to 3 weeks. Transplant into 3″ pots when they are large enough to handle Gradually acclimatise to outside conditions Finally plant into final positions late May onwards appx 12″ apart.

Although you can start your seeds off in pots you can direct sow from mid May until June and I plan to do this for flowers next year. I have started a couple of batches indoors already as I was impatient and still hope for flowers this summer. Lunaria flowers in late May