Money Plant - Lunaria biennis

Money Plant, Honesty, Bolbonac, Moonwort, Satin flower, Penny flower, Judas' penny, Silver Dollar & Lunaria biennis (to be horticulturally correct)

Here is a picture of the Silver Dollar seedlings I recently planted. This picture is a couple weeks old and the plants are much bigger today, yippie! My green thumbs needs some tuning as only 9 of the 16 seeds came up, alas. I've always wanted to start some of these plants and get them into our landscaping. I guess I've finally accomplished that; well the first stage anyway. Sadly, this is a close to owning a money tree as I'll ever get...

Plant Information and Interesting Facts:

Mauve-purple or white flowers that grows 2 to 3 feet tall. The flowers appear in May – June and the seeds come into their own in the end of July, beginning of August.

Plant in a mostly sunny or partly shady location. Plants thrive with neglect in average garden soil. Cut stems of plants as soon as seed pods start to turn brown. Strip leaves from plants and hang small bunches of plants upside down in a dry, shady spot. You may also need to carefully rub off outside of pod to reveal the silvery center. Technically a biennial – meaning it grows leaves the first year and flowers the second. After flowering, it dies. Luckily it seldom needs help as it can reseed itself through the garden quite aggressively.

This heirloom has been popular in winter arrangements since colonial times. Money plant was introduced to England from Germany in the late 1500s and brought to America by the Puritans.