Annuals Dictionary: Lunaria
Mustard family
Cruciferae
Loo-nay’ri-a. Two Eurasian herbs cultivated for the satiny, parchmentlike divisions of their pods, used in dried bouquets.
Description
Leaves usually alternate, ovalish, and stalked. Flowers violet-purple or white, in a showy terminal raceme. Petals 4, long-clawed.
How to Grow
Easy to grow by sowing seeds outdoors in early spring. Where winters are mild, sow in fall. Rarely blooms the first season, but is quite winter-hardy and will live over to bloom in mid-spring. Plants die after blooming. Let a few plants set seeds for next year. The species below prefers cool weather.
Lunnaria annua
Honesty ; Moonwort ; Moneyplant ; Satin Pod ; Satinflower . 18-36 in. (45-90 cm) high. Flowers fragrant, purplish, to 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. S. Europe; naturalized in North America. Cultivar ‘Alba’ has white flowers; another has variegated leaves. Biennial grown as a hardy annual.