Honesty and Old Lace

Oops, sorry, that’s just the image that comes into my head when I think about the blog title.




Ahem, where was I? Ah yes, some honesty about honesty.  Well, back in May of this year I proclaimed that I loved honesty ‘in the green’ and that the dried 'silver dollar' honesty should remain in the realms of the 60s and 70s .... well I’ve changed my mind! How fickle am I?


In all my autumnal transplanting, preparing beds for bulbs and sowing of hardy annuals I completely forgot about the honesty plants quietly forming their seedheads at the other end of the garden.  Taking time to revisit them in this stage of growth, I have now reclassified honesty as a gorgeous ‘all-rounder'.


Beautiful flowers with scent at the beginning of May...

Gorgeous in the green at the beginning of June ....

And oh boy are they fabulous now, with their seedheads ready for popping.  I remember dried honesty seedhead decorations in many a household as I was growing up but I remember them as very white and shiny and not at all natural looking.  Well they are absolutely lovely when left in the garden to their natural devices to form seeds and form an exquisite antiquey patina. Oh, I know what you’re thinking .. “dirty and brown”! Well wait!

First, I love them because of the way they have so many flat seeds visible from the outside when the sun is on them. The seeds are on both sides of the centre membrane, then, as you peel the two outer layers away, the seeds are exposed and look like tiny brown apples. The two outer ‘covers’ (‘dirty and brown’ but no less lovely and serving an effective role as natural seed protectors) are on the top right and then there’s the sumptuous inner shiny membrane which to me has the shine of mother of pearl and the colour close to antique lace.

So without further ado, here she is (cue wolf whistle) stripped naked of her seeds and outer covers and contrasted with other materials. Honesty, old lace and ... mother of pearl.