Honesty plants

 Lunaria annua Beautiful purple flowers in April and May that are one of the few earliest nectar attractions for butterflies - especially Orange Tips, which may also use it to lay their eggs. In spite of it's Latin name, Honesty  is actually a biennial. It needs to put down a long tap root in it's first year, so can only be kept in a pot until about the end of June. This is why you never see it for sale in garden centres! We also have a white-flowered, variegated leaf form - see rare and unusual plants section. will also grow in shade.