A Year in the Valley

A bright purple flower caught my eye.  I was drawn to its dark veins and fading colour, paler towards the centre.  We’ve spotted a number of purple flowers, but I didn’t recognise this one, so I looked it up and was surprised to find out that it was honesty.  When I thought about it I vaguely remembered seeing the iconic seedheads in the garden before, maybe the summer before the blog.  So, although it is called annual honesty, it is biennial in flowering.  It germinates in the spring, grows a low rosette of foliage in the summer and shoots up to 1.5m stems  topped with flowers the following April/May.  The flowers turn into green coin-shaped seedheads, which become translucent silver and are then often used in dried flower arrangements.  The leaves are heart-shaped with jagged edges.  These flowers were not so tall.  They will grow on waste ground but prefer sun or partial shade and fertile soil.