**Aside: You may have noticed that it has been over a month since my last post. I have been traveling every weekend since early August, and I usually blog about plants on the days starting with "S". Since I am traveling again this weekend, it is time to break habit. I have ~ 6 more plants I want to talk about before everything goes into dormancy or dies for the winter. So let's get started! End of the Aside**
Lunaria annua has 2 big things going for it. 1) it has large purple flowers and 2) it has the most awesome seed pods. This plant flowers early in the growing season but it took until late July for the seed pods to be finally ready for a posting. People do buy and plant this species, but I have found it growing in roadsides and other places where it had not been intentionally planted.
L. annua is a mustard - meaning it is in the Brassicaceae family - that can grow as either an annual or biennial. It is native to S.W. Asia and can be found in the western and eastern parts of the United States but not in the mid-west. It is commonly known as the Annual Honesty plant, and sometimes called the money plant because of its pods. However, it should not be confused with another mustard also known as money plant, which has smaller seed pods. Since this is my first mustard post, I will mention that mustard flowers have four petals that are typically arranged to look like an X or + sign, depending on your point of view (see photo below).
Lunaria annua has 2 big things going for it. 1) it has large purple flowers and 2) it has the most awesome seed pods. This plant flowers early in the growing season but it took until late July for the seed pods to be finally ready for a posting. People do buy and plant this species, but I have found it growing in roadsides and other places where it had not been intentionally planted.
L. annua is a mustard - meaning it is in the Brassicaceae family - that can grow as either an annual or biennial. It is native to S.W. Asia and can be found in the western and eastern parts of the United States but not in the mid-west. It is commonly known as the Annual Honesty plant, and sometimes called the money plant because of its pods. However, it should not be confused with another mustard also known as money plant, which has smaller seed pods. Since this is my first mustard post, I will mention that mustard flowers have four petals that are typically arranged to look like an X or + sign, depending on your point of view (see photo below).