The Importance of Honesty - A Nectar Plant You Need in Your Garden!

In this video I explain the importance of Honesty (Lunaria annua) for attracting early pollinating insects and why you should have some in your garden.
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#Honesty #LunariaAnnua #Gardening #Garden #PlantsForPollinators #WildlifeGardening #PlantsForBees #PlantsForButterflies #AttractWildlifeToYourGarden #WildlifeGarden #WildYourGarden #JoelAshton #JoelAshtonWildYourGarden #MakingAWildlifeGarden #HowToGardenForWildlife #BestPollinatorPlants #WildFlowers #PlantingForWildlife #ButterflyPlants #Nectar #NectarPlants

[@rebeccalane5610]

I don't know how this chanel is small, your content is amazing. I wish content like this was more popular.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Wow, thanks Rebecca - I really appreciate your encouragement and kind words, it makes all the difference - glad you are enjoying the channel, lots more to come - best wishes, Joel

[@chrisgale5634]

It grows a lot.in the wild too, really nice to see it.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

It does Chris, so much in this area, no doubt self-sown but so important for many pollinators :) Best wishes - Joel

[@catherinehenderson627]

I have this year about 10 patches of honesty in my garden. The flowers are beautiful and white. Best of all they have flowered early April when the garden doesn’t have as much colour and flowers. I am currently growing from seed some purple honesty. I plan to harvest seeds from the white flowers and resolve next year plus let self sown plants grow on. They are so easy and much less bother than other plants

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Fantastic to read this Catherine - you can see it in my little front garden (designed to show traditional gardeners that wild doesn't mean messy!) doing exactly what you've said, and in April too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4WbpGWPfradha8 Best wishes, and welcome to the channel - Joel

[@brownfamily3218]

Plenty of Honesty in the garden. Couldn't find any garlic mustard yesterday but had another look this morning and found two patches of them. Lots of seedlings of both plants. Something is eating the garlic mustard seedlings though. Probably the snails! Got lots of them ! Snails that is the small yellow and stripy ones. Need some song thrushes to eat them. First holly blue butterfly this morning and lots of orange tips yesterday as well as comma. I think the cat ate a small tortoiseshell !!! Hope I get some grasshoppers this year. She eats them as well. Not sure why because she is such a fussy eater. Lots of wild flowers starting to grow round the pond. Looking forward to seeing what varieties I've got.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I bet you've had a fantastic weekend in the garden! Your hard work and thought is really paying off :) The wildflowers will be starting to show soon, can't wait to see some photos and of course if I get a chance, to come and see for myself! Best wishes - Joel

[@sallyphillipson5342]

Today, for the first time ever, I saw an orange tipped butterfly...I gasped with joy! Would never have thought to see one in my garden here in Derbyshire. It flitted in and flitted out, so earlier I was googling to find plants attractive to the orange tip - then I look at KZbin and here you are with the info I need. Now to hunt for honesty seeds.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Fantastic! I'm genuinely pleased for you Sally :) I think you can get seeds online if you need to, and don't forget the Garlic Mustard seeds too - sow the Honesty in May and you'll have the flowers next year, I promise the Garlic Mustard will bring more Orange Tips to your garden, particularly as you have one prospecting already :) Welcome to the channel Sally - best wishes and have a great weekend - Joel

[@itsmewende]

I agree, Honesty is one of the loveliest flowers, I think it's the most interesting plant too. Any updates on that area they've taken down those trees.? Hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter Sunday.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there Wende - I did pop back to the woods last week but just haven't had a chance to upload yet, thought I'd upload the Honesty video for some optimism over this weekend - hope you've had good weather and have enjoyed the days off. Thanks so much, best wishes as always - Joel

[@itsmewende]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Look forward to hear what's going on. Weather has been great, rain now and then, so everything for now is pretty happy. Days off, I'm retired, altho I do have a small apt on Airbnb, I do enjoy that, especially now having flowers for in there. Have a wonderful week ahead, best wishes to you too.

[@micksmusicchannel]

Lovely looking plant Joel. I remember a great Uncle of mine in the 70s, a keep gardener and grower of veg. He often saved dried honest for neighbours who would put them in vases as decoration. I believe it was the silver seed pods minus the seeds. This video really took me back. Best wishes to yourself and the family Joel 🙂

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Yes, I remember those flower arrangements too that had the seed heads in! Hope you've had a good weekend with the family Mick and that the weather has been good, a lovely few days down here in Essex but today a little cooler :) Catch up real soon my friend - Joel

[@micksmusicchannel]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton it's been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster here over the last couple of days and it's not over yet. It's hard being an animal lover sometimes Joel. Sending my best to you and all your family pal 👍

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@micksmusicchannel So sorry to hear this Mick - do send an email if you can and I'll try to catch up with you properly. Best wishes to you all - Joel

[@angelanichols6158]

Wonderful! We had honesty all on the one place before this year, but this year it’s been popping up all over in unexpected places! I love it! One of my favourite spring plants. My mum used to use the seed heads in her flower arrangements in the 1970s ❤

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Seed heads in flower arrangements - I remember that now :) So glad your honesty has paid off ;) Thanks so much Angela, welcome to the channel and best wishes - have a great weekend - Joel

[@EdurtreG]

Like my Mum 😉 Spent hours in my youth removing the seeds. I think in Dutch it is called Judaspenning (penning being old word for coin of a certain worth, like penny?.

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

I still do 😆

[@janiedunn637]

Another wonderful video from you Joel. Gorgeous 🌸 🌺 🌻 🌼😊

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Thank you Janie - hope you've been enjoying the long weekend and have had good weather, it's been perfect for gardening down here in Essex :) Best wishes, Joel

[@janiedunn637]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton weather is nice 🌞 at last. Clover 🍀 & other 🌸 are coming up in my back garden 🪴. Going to let them grow more. 😊

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

I had orange tip lay eggs on them a couple of years ago. Excited to report the first Orange tip ♂️ in the garden today and a Holly blue. We have lots of garlic mustard too and one solitary cuckoo flower has emerged. Lovely flower.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Cuckoo flower has to be one of my favourites Tracey :) So glad to hear about the Orange Tip and Holly Blue - just two of the many rewards for gardening in the way you do - I hope you've had a fantastic weekend with the family. Best wishes - Joel

[@UkAmphibians]

Honesty is the best policy it definitely is Joel 😉 I’ve got plenty growing in my garden thanks to you and I’ve got plenty of garlic mustard too all I need now is those beautiful orange tips to enter the garden so can’t wait 🤞🏻🐸💚🐸

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I'm reminded of this "honesty doesn't always pay, but dishonesty always costs" Michael Josephson :) They will find you and you'll be rewarded - hope you're having a great weekend. Catch up soon - best wishes, Joel

[@UkAmphibians]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton definitely and hope many more rewards come your way for helping so many people like you do. I hope you and The family have a lovely weekend too 🐸💚🐸

[@lakshmik3563]

They are so pretty! And... you say they grow easily. So... they should adorn all gardens! Only... wish they were in more colours than one! ❤

[@wildlifegardener-tracey6206]

There is a white which I have a lot of this year and only a few pink.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there :) Yes, once established they re-seed themselves and are such a good sign of Spring and of course important for so many pollinators - as Tracey says below, they are available in White and a few other colours now - best wishes to you and yours, Joel

[@SMElder-iy6fl]

I have a lot of them. I wish we had orange tip butterflies.

[@lyndalambert9639]

No OTs as yet Joel but this morning my 1st Large White was nectaring on one of my Honesty plants. I ❤️them.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Excellent news Lyn! Nice to see numbers building now! :-)

[@markrowland5393]

Lovely. Thanks Joel.

[@beckyscheller9358]

Had this plant at my last house. Need to get some again. Thanks for the reminder.

[@angelanichols6158]

If you’re in the U.K., Wilko sell their seeds for almost next to nothing x

[@Tofog22000]

A triple threat plant, beautiful flower, seed pod and butterfly host plant! Great plant name too!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey :) This is quite common in North America too, you might have heard it referred to as the "Silver Dollar" plant due to the seedheads - hope you're able to get some seeds as this would look wonderful in your garden - hope you had a good weekend, we've had a long bank holiday and the weather, for once, has been great. Best wishes, as always - Joel

[@TheUntypicals]

I also grow them on my allotment as cabbage white butterfly caterpillars prefer them over my other brassicas :) Honesty is also available in white...

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Yes - I should have said about the white version :) Thanks for this - glad you get butterflies, it's a perfect reward for your efforts - best wishes, Joel

[@keithroberts42]

Still no Orange Tips seen around here, but I'm sure I've increased my chances with my Honesty and Garlic mustard is going to flower this year too.Have seen some bee flies in the garden which are interesting to watch too.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

You certainly have Keith - they'll be sure to find you :) Bee Flies are fantastic, such gangly legs and I've seen a fair few in the garden over the weekend, vital pollinators too - hope you've had a fantastic weekend and the weather has been good. Best wishes - Joel

[@markhunter2244]

Sowed a tray of Honesty seeds almost a fortnight ago, so hopefully I will have a load in bloom this time next year 🐝

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Brilliant Mark - you certainly will have loads next year, they'll happily self-seed but do harvest a few and plant so you keep the succession up - such a wonderful sign of Spring and so important for a lot of pollinators. Hope you've had a fab weekend - best wishes, Joel

[@Mondelfe]

They are called „Silver Leaf“ in Germany, my garden is full of them now. I love them. 😍

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Good to know :) In US they're known as the "silver dollar" plant too and I have heard them called the "money plant" here in the UK - I love them too - best wishes, Joel

[@lenerothe6234]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton In Denmark they are called Judas’ money -rather in theme with easter 😄

[@petermoore7315]

Thanks for the video. I have grown some white ones from a packet. They are looking great. I'm hoping that the butterflies like them

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

You're very welcome Peter - the butterflies will be on them in no time :) Hope you're having a good weekend - best wishes, Joel

[@carolpalmer5997]

October 2023 - springtime in Tassie! I have wanted these for my garden in Tasmania, but as you suggested, cannot find them in the local garden shops. Then I found a dry sprig of seedheads in our church when I was helping clean up - possibly left off an old flower arrangement. I removed all the seeds (11 altogether) and kept them, and a few weeks ago chucked them all into a bed where I had put a few garlic cloves. I was surprised to see something had come up in this spot, couldn't recall what I had placed in there but knew where in the shed I had found the seeds. Today I went to see how they were doing, dreading that they may have been butternut pumpkin seeds I had also saved. And there are my ELEVEN honesty plants, about 3 or 4 inches high. 100% germination, unheard of for me, so I reckon I am going to have a good show of Honesty, going forward. Any ideas out there about re-planting seedlings? I don't know whether to try and thin out the seedlings and then space them around.... I suppose it's worth a try and they will need thinning out anyway. Little job for tomorrow. Thanks for a very informative talk on these Lunaria plants, Joel. I knew about the seeds cases, had no idea about the actual plants until I googled them just now.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey Carol! So good to read this comment, thank you :) Firstly, and forgive me if I get this wrong, but I think you're heading into summer around December time? If so, the "rules" here for the best time to plant Honesty seeds (as bi-annuals) is mid-late summer, but it sounds like yours are already on their way and I cannot see the harm in planting them out now, maybe a few weeks or so to ensure they're sturdy of course. You might already know, but Honesty (here) will green up the first year, without flowers (sorry!) but next year they will flower and then seed and continue the process, with your expert help of course :) I would hold a few seeds back from next year's plants so that you then have them in succession. Hope this helps, and well done on your discovery and growing skills! Best wishes, Joel

[@george-1961]

Thanks for the update Joel. As you know I have garlic mustard. Today I see that I have sweet violet flower growing in my lawn. At this rate I may even get some honesty’s 😉. Last summer I had fox gloves for the first time 😊

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I love reading your updates George! So good to hear about the sweet violets in the lawn and the foxgloves. Get yourself some honesty seeds and put them in the borders in May time and you'll have the flowers next year, then they'll seed themselves or you can harvest a few when they're paper-like and sow them elsewhere too :) Let me know when those Orange Tips turn up! Hope you're having a fab weekend - best wishes, as always - Joel

[@george-1961]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton definitely will do now Joel. If I get the orange tip butterflies you’ll be the first to know 😉

[@Narnendil]

Such a beautiful colour!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

So pleasing to the eye and so good for pollinators :) Hope you are doing fine - best wishes, Joel

[@Narnendil]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Yes, thank you, you too! I'm sorry if you just haven't had the time to answer yet, but I haven't recieved an answer to my e-mail yet, and I just wanted to make sure you had actually sent something and a techinal error made me not recieve it, or something. If you have just been too busy, that's completely fine! No stress! Just wanted to make sure :)

[@NickSBailey]

Honesty always grew in our garden when I was a kid and I forgot how I used to peel the seed pods apart and there were three layers, two lots of seed between. I've got some slightly out of date seeds I'll bung them all in and hopefully some will germinate, I will buy more for next year to get a succession going, great tip.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there Nicholas - it's always worth a bet and planting those seeds rather than throwing them, just in case :) Me too re peeling the seed pods apart, quite satisfying - hope you've had a good long weekend and good weather - best wishes, as always - Joel

[@joemyers5302]

How appropriate that this video should come out now considering what ive just bought today. Ive had some seeds for months but never got round to planting them, guess i can do that later and have more Honesty next year.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Great :) Yes, do plant them - you'll be pleased to know you can start planting them out direct, or in pots if you prefer, in May and then you'll have them in abundance next year - keep the cycle up and you'll have them every year Joe :) Best wishes, Joel

[@SisterDogmata]

Lovely plant will have to get some seeds. I remember the seed heads being used in floral arrangements too. Purple flowers are my favourite.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

I'd recommend it :) You can sow them direct or in pots in May and you'll have flowers next year, keep the cycle up and you'll never be without them (or Orange Tips and Brimstones!) - best wishes, hope you're having a fab weekend, Joel

[@SisterDogmata]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Lovely weather at last! I'm a moth fan lovely to see butterflies especially the occasional Brimstone but always a joy to see a moth. Have a lovely weekend, hopefully time off with your family.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@SisterDogmata Me too - not just because you can see it during the day but I do love seeing the Mint Moths, small but incredibly beautiful :) A fair few moths enjoy honesty too as I'm sure you know. Yep, lots of time out this weekend, at last - enjoy yours too! Best wishes - Joel

[@geeker211]

Beautiful! Here we call them "Money Plants" because of the seeds heads :) And I have garlic mustard everywhere in my gardens. I let them grow until the flowers die then pull them out or they take over the whole garden! We pick the small garlic mustard leaves and eat them too, they're pretty tasty in a salad and made into pesto sauce!. But not the older leaves, they are bitter. (PS--we started working on our pond today, Joel! I wish you could see it when it's finished)

[@mandolinda6]

LOL, typical American trying to get money, from growing flowers LOL

[@geeker211]

@@mandolinda6 I don't understand what you mean by that, why so rude?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there :) I've heard them called "Money Plants" here too, also "Money-in-Both-Pockets", "Silver Dollar" and obviously due to the seedheads - I've not tried the garlic mustard leaves in a salad yet but I have lots in the garden so once I've checked for Orange Tip eggs I might try a few :) Do send some photos of your pond when it's done as I'd love to see it too - you can send them to [e-mail] - hope you had a wonderful weekend, best wishes as always - Joel

[@simonleaf2765]

Purple's my favourite colour in the garden. I put some purple Aubretia along the side and it's beautiful. I want some more purple so I'm definately going to try and get some Honesty, especially for the shaded part of my garden.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Great combination Simon! Don't forget the Erysimum Bowles Mauve and a few Salvias for "extra" purple, great for attracting butterflies and other pollinators too of course :) Hope you've had a great weekend, best wishes - Joel

[@simonleaf2765]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Will do Joel. All the best - Simon.

[@nikkiwells1688]

Lovely- I will try and get some. I have loads of garlic mustard though and it spreads everywhere!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Look out for those Orange Tips Nikki :) You'll be rewarded with the Honesty too - best wishes, Joel

[@ArcturanMegadonkey]

I've had it growing in my garden for 20 years and thought it was a weed but left it as it's pretty hahah, just found it's completely edible too!

[@jordanbeagle5779]

A video on which trees/shrubs are best to plant for which birds you’d like to attract would be great! Fantastic channel, you’ve got the job I’ve been dreaming of!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Jordan, thanks so much - really appreciate your support :) I've done a few videos on trees/shrubs etc but I'll keep this in mind, pretty sure I have a video somewhere already but there's circa 50 more to upload at the moment, just finding time. Hope you've had a good weekend, best wishes to you and yours - Joel

[@suzannebramble6564]

Gorgeous! On your recommendation my husband grew some from seed last year and they are looking lovely. Hoping they will self seed. Take care Joel

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey Suzanne, hope you've had a good weekend so far and the weather has been nice. Well done husband! Hope you're both doing well, best wishes - Joel

[@theurbanghost]

Honesty has bloomed all over our garden this year Joel, seems to have filled every patch of free soil, what a great plant!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Wow, that's so good to hear - lucky you! Look out for those grateful Orange Tips! Best wishes - Joel

[@MarkyBigSmoke]

I can’t believe you’ve done this video Joel! Only the other day I posted a couple of photos on my Instagram asking if anyone knows what this plant was, which I saw in my local park. Thank you for sharing the info about which butterflies might enjoy it’s benefits. I shall certainly be on the lookout for the orange tip in the park, and also taking a few seed pods. Do I wait til the autumn to pick the pods or are the seeds viable earlier please? Thanks again; brilliant!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey Mark! So glad this was timely, I just knew everyone would start to see this when out and about (although not as common as it used to be) and the garden I was working in had it so I stopped work to share it :) Best thing is you can plant it in May, or when you see the pods have turned to that "paper" look the seeds will be ready, sow direct in the ground or in pots and you'll have these beauties next year, just keep the cycle up although they're good at re-seeding themselves and you'll have them every year - can't wait to see them near the pond on your wonderful allotment! Hope you're enjoying the weekend - best wishes, Joel

[@MarkyBigSmoke]

Thanks very much. Will do!

[@titiaswildlifecottagegarden]

What a beautiful plant. Directly after the video I of course had to Google the plant for the Dutch name, judaspenning. There is a white variety to, what a stunning flower. My list for native plants are getting longer and longer because of you🤔🥰🌸🌿 I can remember when we were young that my aunt and uncle who lived on a farm with a massive front, side garden and orchard had those plants. I can remember the papery seed pods. I tried to feed them to the goats once, they were not buying it😁 So I put them in between a few green leaves and then they ate it😁🍴 Silly me, we were regurly staying there for sleepovers when my parents went away for their boating club weekends. That is where I fell in love with pink blossom trees🌸🥰🌳 I have a non-honesty related question: if I would prune a hawthorn twice a year, will it still produce berries in the autumn? And would be the thorny variety best for a smaller garden or the non-thorny one? I'm not 100% sure if I like to deal with a lot of thorns🤔

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Titia. I wouldn't prune the Hawthorn twice a year if you want berries, as this will knock the flowers back and they may not develop into berries. Hope this helps and sorry I missed this comment. Many thanks, Joel

[@titiaswildlifecottagegarden]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton oke thanks a lot, I already had a suspicion about berries not developing without the blooms. How big/long will it grow every year in a half sunny position?

[@NeilBradleyMS]

Fabulous video thanks. This last year or so, Honesty has taken up residence underneath our conifer hedge at the bottom of the garden. When it’s in flower as you say quite rightly in your video, it is breathtaking. I never want to be without this beautiful flower in my garden. I do have a question if you’re not too busy to answer, the honesty flowers were a little bit untidy and leaning over our path from underneath the hedge. I didn’t want to cut them back, so I just pushed them under the hedge in the hope that they will just continue to grow and carry on flourishing. I wasn’t sure if that was the correct thing to do, but they were overtaking our path and I had to do something. Fabulous channel liked unsubscribe from me. - Neil (UK)

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there Neil, thanks so much for this and your kind words, really glad you found the channel, we have a great little community and I try to help as many people as I can as the channel grows, the more info I can give the better for wildlife :) The Honesty should be fine under the hedge, it should also now probably start to be producing the seed "pods" or "purses" as they are known, due to the way it holds 3 to 4 seeds in each disk. If you cut them then obviously they can't produce the seeds after flowering. It sounds like you certainly have enough but remember that these are biannual as in they will produce the green parts of the plant in the first year and the second year flower, then produce seed and the original plant die. I hope this helps, very best wishes and thanks again - Joel

[@NeilBradleyMS]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thank you, Joel, for coming back to me so very quickly. Yes, the plants have got literally hundreds of little disk shaped seed pods. They are currently greenish in colour at the moment, but I’m just leaving them. We have been extremely lucky to have had a beautiful show this year, to be honest (no pun 😃) they just improve in numbers each year and are covering the ground at the bottom of the hedge which is making it look lovely. I may consider collecting some of the seed pods and spreading them around elsewhere in the garden, but I think they like the dry soil under the hedge which is why they took up residence there. Thank you so much for coming back to me, i’m looking forward to going through some of your videos. Best regards, - Neil.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@NeilBradleyMS You're very welcome Neil, definitely try the seeds elsewhere, but remember where you put them so you know what they are when they appear just as leaves next year - but it sounds like you have enough to experiment, they are often found under hedgerows so they must like it there. Hope you enjoy the channel and that you find some helpful videos. I usually upload a full video on a Sunday with shorts throughout the week just updating people on current projects etc - but have a great weekend and "see" you soon! Best wishes, Joel

[@NeilBradleyMS]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thanks Joel, you too. 👍👍

[@crazyjoep2344]

My garden is too small..grrr XD I would love to have this species. We have them here in purple and white and we call them Judaspenning. I do have the other one in my garden, the Garlic Mustard and they amaze me every year because they start kinda tiney and then end up large with all these white flowers and theres sooo many (small) fly and bee species that love to visit them. The only downside is that they get kinda droopy when it's hot, they like tons of water. I used to have Daycuckooflower in my garden too but somehow they got swarmed by gardenlice every year so I took them out of the garden after last year. I have tons of Ladybugs each year but somehow they never touch this type of plant, maybe it's because of the ants. Black garden ants are a HUGE problem were I live because im surrounded by stonetile gardens and they love to build their nests in there because its nice and hot and safe for them. I just found out they made another nest at the base of my Birch tree and it's already driving me crazy because I know they will defend the lice so good that the Ladybugs won't get to them.. Nature gardens can be challange! Happy easter by the way, keep the fantastic vids coming! Greetz from Holland!!

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Great to read this, thank you - but yes can be a challenge at times, but I hope the other wildlife brings you more joy :) Happy Easter to you too, I hope you've had a good weekend - best wishes, Joel

[@filmakercrossley]

It self seeds all around my garden

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi David - lovely to hear from you, I am due to see clients in the next month or so, near to where you are so I will drop you an email as I'd love to come and see your garden. Best wishes, Joel

[@loveall3890]

Hi Joel, I was searching for this plant today along with my newly bought clematis until I was captivated by a beautiful plant I’d never seen before, a ceanothus. (Ceanothus repens to be exact). I did some research on it there and then and concluded it was good for bees. Have you happened upon such a plant before? Do you know much about them? All the best.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi there - Ceanothus Repens is actually native to California but grows very well here, I have two specimens in the garden, one in the back and one in the front and they are vital for many pollinators in Spring, aside from their absolute beauty and vibrant colour early on - they can grow to a good size so remember this when planting one, some people train them against a wall - a neighbour a few doors down has a pretty ancient one and has the space to allow it to grow to it's full potential, a really stunning small tree :) Hope this helps - best wishes, Joel

[@loveall3890]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton yea they are absolutely stunning. I assume they will be good for butterflies as well. I have planted it straight in the sun and only some 5ft to it’s left lays a buddleia davidii. It will be a colourful spot. I think I’ve got a case of the planting fever! Once I’ve planted one shrub I cannot stop.

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@loveall3890 I've heard that Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and Gatekeeper will enjoy Ceanothus - let me know which visitors you get! :)

[@SteveHPhotos]

I have managed to get Honesty to grow all around my garden but I was under the impression that garlic mustard was a wide-spreading weed, have you put the video about it up yet?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey Steve - I haven't managed a video yet but there is lots up here in Scotland where I'm working at the moment, I'll be sure to do a video about the benefits of garlic mustard asap :) So pleased you have an abundance of Honesty too - Best wishes, Joel

[@SteveHPhotos]

@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton From searching online it would appear that Garlic Mustard is an invasive species, is it really something we should be trying to get more of?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

@@SteveHPhotos In my mind yes, because of the benefits for the Orange-Tip butterfly and other butterflies and pollinators - but that's because I'm in the UK. I know it's considered invasive in N America but it's native to Europe. Asia and Africa. Best wishes, Joel

[@pauldurkee4764]

Thank you for another interesting plant. I have been meaning to ask what is the name of the music you use as a theme.?

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hey Paul - it's called "Delicate Attention" by BertySolo - you can find it on YT and the guy is very generous in allowing people to use his music :) Best wishes, Joel

[@ruthfrankish3897]

Any tips for discouraging slugs though? They have eaten all my honesty plants bar one! 😭

[@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton]

Hi Ruth - it's annoying isn't it! Two plants from last year that were due to flower have managed one flower between them due to the slugs! It's a bit of a faff with the eggshells - unless you eat a lot of eggs! - but you can certainly try these recommended methods: coffee grounds, wood ashes, sand, crushed eggshells around the base of the plant. It's a case of making it as "uncomfortable" as possible - encouraging frogs will help too :) Hope this helps, but I do feel your "pain"! Best wishes Ruth - Joel

[@LouLou-hl5cl]

Can this be grown just indoors ?

[@andreadexter9127]

What are your thoughts on perrennial honesty?