They say good things come to those who wait. On today's Growing on the High Plains, I'd like to discuss a biennial for which many a gardener has been very patient. I'm talking about Lunaria annua, also known as honesty or money plant. While biennials typically take a couple years to crop up, this one is well worth the wait.
Named for its moon-shaped seed pods, these plants are a pollenator's paradise when blooms are lush. Once it's gone to seed, it pays out with crispy disks of luminous silver, almost resembling pocket change. (You might recall these distinctive, translucent wafers from fancy floral arrangements that capitalize on their otherwordly shape and shine.) But gardener, beware! Those moony pods are easy to reseed, so without care, you just might win the unlucky lottery as it takes over your garden bed.
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The Moon by Henry David Thoreau
The full-orbed moon with unchanged ray
Mounts up the eastern sky,
Not doomed to these short nights for aye,
But shining steadily.
She does not wane, but my fortune,
Which her rays do not bless,
My wayward path declineth soon,
But she shines not the less.
And if she faintly glimmers here,
And paled is her light,
Yet alway in her proper sphere
She’s mistress of the night.
