Lunaria annua 'Chedglow'

Honesty 'Chedglow' Brassicaceae

Honesty has always had a reputation for being straightforward, but ‘Chedglow’ clearly felt it deserved a little more drama. This remarkable selection produces beautifully dark foliage, ranging from deep green through burnished chocolate to rich purple, carried on purple-flushed stems. In spring, clusters of dusky mauve to pinkish-purple flowers provide a particularly handsome contrast, followed by the familiar translucent, silvery seed discs that give honesty its common name. The dark foliage and luminous seedheads together make this one of the most ornamental forms of Lunaria annua.

The provenance is unusually interesting. ‘Chedglow’ originated from an unusual plant in a private garden at Chedglow, Wiltshire, and was selected and brought into cultivation by Martin Cragg-Barber of Natural Selection, Wanborough. Martin was offering the plant commercially by the mid-2000s and exhibited it to the BSBI in 2006/07, where it was recorded as Lunaria annua cultivar ‘Chedglow’. The BSBI account also notes its distinctive extra leaflets at the base of the leaves, a character less pronounced in the original garden plant.

A biennial that is easily maintained by allowing it to self-seed, ‘Chedglow’ is best grown in fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil in sun or partial shade. Allow some plants to set seed and it will readily perpetuate itself, providing both spring flowers and those wonderfully theatrical silvery seedheads.

Height: 75–100cm
Spread: 30–50cm
Flowering: April–June
Seedheads: June–August
Hardiness: H6, approximately -20 to -15°C
Position: Full sun or partial shade
Soil: Fertile, moist but well-drained soil
Habit: Biennial; freely self-seeding

Footnote: ‘Chedglow’ was in horticultural circulation by the mid-2000s and is documented by the BSBI in 2006/07. It should not be confused with the distinct cultivar ‘Rosemary Verey’, although the two are sufficiently similar that ‘Chedglow’ has subsequently been mislabelled under the latter name in the horticultural trade. Contemporary NARGS seed lists already treated ‘Rosemary Verey’ as a separate cultivar in 2007–08. Our stock at the nursery was originally from Martin Cragg-Barber in 2009 and we have never grown 'Rosemary Verey' so it is the true ' Chedglow'