Lunaria rediviva is a perennial Honesty that you don’t see in many gardens. What a pity as it is such a fantastic early flowering perennial. The neat clumps with bold foliage are useful when other plants are still taking their time to wake up in early spring. Their light violet flowers are delicate and generously produced. These mature to crescent shaped seed pods that remain effective into summer.
Biennial Honesty is far beter known and it too certainly deserves its place in the spring garden. Their familiar, oval, papery seed pods are useful in flower arrangements, but some of their seeds need to be scattered around the garden in order to grow through the autumn and winter and ensure a new crop of flowering plants for the following year.
Lunarai annua is normally seen as a mauve to pink flowered plant with mid green foliage. My preference is for the white flowered form – ‘Alba’. There is also a variegated variety that does come true from seed, but not everyone will find it that attractive. However, a new form has recently become available with purple foliage and dark pink flowers that is well worth seeking out – Lunaria annua ‘Chedglow’.
I had problems establishing Lunaria rediviva in my garden which is perhaps why you don’t see it too often, but I have never heard that that was a common problem. If you find it, be sure to give it a go. The biennials should already be in your garden of course.
