
Lunaria annua
Brassicaceae
Lunaria annua , Honesty
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Lunaria
Fragrant purple flowers in early summer. Coarsely toothed deep green leaves. Good food plant for the Orange Tip Butterfly. Traditional medicinal plant.
• Hardiness: H6 (-15 to -20C)
• Type: Hardy Biennial
• Height: up to 80cm
• Spread: 45cm
Available as herb seeds.
• Soil type: Chalk, Loam, Sand
• pH: Universal pH
• Habit: Bushy
• Flowering colour: Purple
• Flowering time: Summer
• Uses: N/A
• Attracts pollinators: Yes
• Container suitability: No
• UK native: Yes
• Caution: N/A
• Indoor Sowing: In autumn, into prepared pots, cover with perlite. Place in cold frame. Seeds germinate in spring.
• Outdoor Sowing: In late summer, into a well-drained soil, partially shaded site. Do not protect from winter weather. Germination in spring.
• Propagation: N/A
• Maintenance: N/A
• Harvest: N/A
For information on growing herbs from seeds please see Jekka's blogs on sowing seeds, sowing your winter culinary herbs or how to grow vegetables.
Jekka's "How to Grow Herbs" videos, includes Jekka's video on how to sow seeds for an informative step-by-step guide to seed sowing.
Growing indoors? Check out Jekka's blog on indoor herb gardening for some advice.
If you require pots or compost, see Jekka's Herb Kits that includes Jekka's Seed Sowing Kit. This kit contains all you need to sow a collection of herb seeds.
For more information on growing herbs plants please see Jekkapedia, Jekka's blog or our FAQs page.
Happy Herbs!
One of our three core roots is that we are Environmentally Conscious and for the past 30 years all the herbs grown at Jekka’s have been raised following sustainable, environmentally friendly and organic approaches resulting in a remarkable biodiversity at the herb farm.
Our herb seeds are also untreated and can be used to grow organic herb plants.
You can read more about our sustainability approach to growing herbs in one of Jekka's Blogs or in Jekka's Guide to Climate Change.