AT THIS time of year, flower colour has all but faded from the garden. Bright autumn leaves have blown away and the evergreens that are left can seem dark and drab. Now is the time to look to the skeletal remains of summer that help give form and structure to the borders. These plants whose spent flower spikes and seed heads remain in outline, catch the lowering winter light and as the wind blows, give some movement to the scene.

Honesty is such a seasonal performer, and certainly unusual in that you could say it looks better dead than alive. Its branching stems hold aloft clusters of big satin silvery discs. These are the dry flattened seed pods that look so much like shiny coins that another common name for it is the Money Plant. Their ghostly white, semi-transparent circular shapes also inspired their scientific name, Lunaria annua, in reference to the spooky, moon-like look of them.

The ‘annua’ part of that latin name is less easy to understand though, as these cottage garden favorites are not annuals at all, but rather biennials taking two years to flower. The first year, they just produce a rosette of rough green leaves, but in their second season they grow up to produce a lovely springtime show of purple flowers followed in time by those translucent papery rounds. It’s then all over for that particular plant, but its scattered seeds will germinate freely the following year to ensure there will always be more.

There is a white flowered form which is guaranteed to lighten and lift a dark corner, as they do so well in shade. There is also a variegated form which unusually comes true from seed, and even more unusually is plain green in year one, only changing to a spangled spire of bright white splashed leaves the following season. They all have fleshy roots that do not make for good transplanting, but once you have this plant in the garden, it will come up everywhere. It’s then just a question of thinning out the self sown seedlings to ensure their chosen sites are suitable.

Honesty’s dry winter seed heads seem to shine out in the dark winter garden with a gleaming, eerie slivery light. They are an easy, old fashioned, cottage garden favourite, which should win a place in any garden.

Chris Crowder is head gardener at Levens Hall

chris.crowder@me.com

Jobs to do this week:

It is generally okay to prune deciduous trees and shrubs at any time when the leaves are off. But, for maples, birches and vines, it is best to get the work completed this side of Christmas when their sap is down to avoid unnecessary bleeding.

As natural food gets scarcer, and the temperature falls outside, it is well worth checking for damage and controlling any mice that may find your stored produce too tempting to resist.

Pot up last year’s hippeastrum (amaryllis) and bring them into active growth with more regular watering and feeding. They should reward with their huge trumpet shaped flowers early in the new year.