Honesty

[doogied]

I have got honesty in my garden and it has seeded itself at the front of the border and has grown too tall. The purple flowers are past and now I have the green seed heads. When do I pick them to have the silvery seed heads?

[tinpotLizzie]

Just leave them to themselves & the stems will dry & the seedpods will eventually turn papery & silvery of their own accord.. If you pick before this they will just dry & shrivel.
I have both the purple & white flowering in my garden & they seed around everywhere, but are easy to pull up if they are in the wrong place. Great for flower arrangements & Xmas decorations - they look wonderful sprayed gold & silver!

[doogied]

Thanks,tinpotLizzie, I've only got the purple ones, and I should have transplanted them to the back of the border when they were small, as I suppose they'll die if I try to transplant them now? They are about 3ft high.

[tinpotLizzie]

Hi Doogied,
Yes they would die as they're a h.h. annual, but don't worry, just pull out the ones in the wrong places & leave the rest to spread their seeds around later in the year.
Once you've got them they will always appear somewhere the next spring, & are an early food source for the bees.
Is'nt Mother Nature wonderful!!