Is It Too Late For Biennials?

Q While leafing through an old magazine, I saw some pictures of a plant called Lunaria annua ‘Corfu Blue’. I love the colour, and would love to grow it. If I can track down some seed, is it too late to sow it? Rebecca Hyde, Horsham, West Sussex

- Anne Swithinbank

A This is a particularly lovely seed strain of honesty, with flowers more violet-blue than the usual purple – a theme carried through to purple-tinged seed pods and bluish foliage on plants up to 3ft (1m) tall. I believe seeds are available from chilternseeds.co.uk or avonbulbs.co.uk.

Despite the name Lunaria annua, honesty is usually biennial, the term given to plants that grow from seed one year, overwinter as rosettes of growth, and flower the following year. Some short-lived perennials like foxgloves, anchusa, Iceland poppy and hollyhock are treated as biennials, because their finest display of flowers is in their second year from seed. This group tends to have an informal appearance and is brilliant for bringing colour from late spring into early summer.