1 / 4

Key characteristics

Family: Brassicaceae
Height: 24 to 36 in
Width: 12 to 18 in
Flower color: Purple to lavender four petaled blooms sometimes white
Foliage color: Medium green slightly toothed ovate leaves forming upright clumps
Bloom time: Mid to late spring
Light: Full sun to partial shade
Water: Moderate
Maintenance: Low, allow seed pods to develop for ornamental display or self seeding
Growing zone: USDA zones 4 to 8
Wildlife: Bees butterflies and other pollinating insects

Perennials

Lunaria annua

Money Plant

Lunaria annua produces loose clusters of softly scented purple to violet flowers in mid- to late spring, carried above fresh green foliage that forms a gentle mound. As the season advances, the blooms give way to translucent, silvery seed pods that catch the light and remain decorative well into autumn and winter, lending quiet luminosity to borders and dried arrangements.

Native to southeastern Europe and western Asia and long cultivated in cottage gardens, it reflects centuries of appreciation for both spring bloom and ornamental seed display. Readily self-seeding growth allows natural colonies to reappear year after year in informal plantings.

Light

Full sun to partial shade

Water

Moderate

Bloom time

Mid to late spring

Find this plant

Works well in

Borders
Cottage Gardens
Pollinator Gardens
Cut Flower Gardens

Companion plants

Catmint · Heucheras · Lady's mantle · Hellebores · Hardy geraniums · Hostas

Design tip

The early flowers arrive when the garden is still waking up, so give it a spot you pass often in spring. Because it is easy about light, use it to carry a planting from a sunny end of the bed into the shadier side.