Plant Type

Perennial, Annual, Biennial

 

Height Range

1-3'

 

Flower Color

Pink, Purple, White

 

Flower Season

Spring

 

Leaf Color

Green

 

Bark Color

n/a

 

Fruit Color

Brown, Green, White

 

Fruit Season

Summer, Fall

Sun

Full, Half

 

Water

Low, Medium, Extra in Summer

 

Growth Rate

Moderate

 

Soil Type

Sandy, Clay, Loam, Rocky, Unparticular

 

Soil Condition

Average, Rich, Well-drained, Moist, Dry

 

Soil pH

Neutral

 

Adverse Factors

Invasive

Design Styles

English Cottage, Meadow, Mediterranean, Ranch, Spanish

 

Accenting Features

Fragrance, Showy Flowers

 

Seasonal Interest

Spring, Summer, Fall

 

Location Uses

Background, Perennial Border

 

Special Uses

Cut Flowers, Naturalizing, Small Spaces

 

Attracts Wildlife

Butterflies

Money plant is an old-fashioned garden biennial. Its leaves are oval to heart-shaped, and form dense basal clusters from which tall, erect stems emerge. The foliage thins out towards the tops of the stems. The flowers emerge in clusters at the stem tips; simple four-petaled flowers in pink to orchid to lilac in April and May. The flowers give way to round to oval, paper thin, silver dollar sized pods that become translucent as they age. Excellent in dried arrangements, pick them with the stems when the pods are still green for a long lasting floral display. Grows about 2 to 3 feet tall and about a foot wide.

Grow in full to part sun in well drained, clay-loam to sandy-loam soils. A biennial, in the first year it produces only leaves, but blooms and pods in the second year. If you allow some pods to dry on the plant, they will freely self sow and you will always be "in the money." Also commonly called moonwort, honesty, silver dollar plant, and lunaria.