Honesty is the best policy!

The papery silver 'coins' of these locally-grown honesty seedpods add a magical frosty sheen to the posies at this time of year. Honesty is an annual and is a type of Brassica (same genus as cabbages and mustard). It is often spotted on wasteland as a garden escapee. If you see it out and about, it may look more drab and that's because the outer seed cases may still be in place. These come off when the seeds are released or they can be gently rubbed off to reveal the smoother shinier central membrane.

If you have honesty in the garden it has sweet-smelling purple or white flowers and it's very good at seeding itself so you'll probably have it again next year! There is also a perennial variety which has more oval-shaped seedpods.

Honesty probably gets its common name from the see-through nature of the seedpods. The plant also goes by the name 'money plant', and it's Latin name, Lunaria, means moon-shaped.

If you run an eco-minded business, perhaps you'd like to consider sending MeadowSweet posies to your staff or customers this Christmas? Do get in touch if you'd like to arrange something special, sophie@meadowsweet.co.uk