Growing Honesty (Lunaria): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 20, 2026
Honesty is grown for what is left after it dies: flat, papery, translucent seed pods that hold their shape indoors for years.
A biennial, despite being called annua
The species name is Lunaria annua and the plant is a biennial. A spring sowing gives you a rosette of leaves and nothing else. The following spring it throws up two to three feet of purple flowers, and by late summer those become the pods people grow it for.
Anyone expecting flowers in year one will conclude it failed. It did not.
Harvest by doing nothing
The pods need to stay on the plant until they dry and the outer skins loosen, at which point the plant looks thoroughly dead. Cut the stems then, rub the two outer skins off each pod with a thumb, and the silver disc inside is what you keep.
It will not leave
NC State Extension is blunt: “If you start it in your garden it will be there forever as it can be weedy”, and it is reported invasive in some parts of the country. Every one of those pods is a seed packet, and rubbing them clean scatters seed exactly where you are standing.
If you want it contained, do the cleaning somewhere other than the bed, and pull the seedlings you did not plan for.
It runs zones 5 through 9, in full sun or partial shade.
Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Lunaria annua.
Companion planting guide for Honesty (Lunaria) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 5-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Honesty (Lunaria) doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Honesty (Lunaria) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: about 2 square feet per plant (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-3 ft.
Where to buy honesty seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing honesty (lunaria)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
%3A%20Grown%20for%20translucent%20seed%20pods%20rather%20than%20flowers%2C%20which%20means%20leaving%20it%20standing%20until%20it%20looks%20dead.)
Pin this for later
Growing Honesty (Lunaria): Grown for translucent seed pods rather than flowers, which means leaving it standing until it looks dead.
Save to Pinterest