What's Up With Nasturtiums?

Nasturtiums may be common and old-fashioned, but don't their cheerful,height-of-summer flowers do your heart good? I I adore how easily and quickly they grow seed, how they bloom for months, and their peppery smell that signals summer as surely as lily perfume. Both leaves and blossoms liven up the taste of a salad or sandwich. And I'm grateful my nasturtiums don't seem to notice it's mid-October and are still going strong.

Yet this summer these dependable favorites have driven me crazy! The leaves have grown huge and ungainly, hiding the flowers. They survived a July bout of aphids (dispatched with strong blasts of water from the hose) only to sprawl and trail all over the garden in an ungainly, leafy mess.

So now I'm on a quest to figure out which kinds of nasturtiums stay compact and produce more flowers than leaves. There must be some that hold their blooms high above the foliage...aren't there?  I turned to Renee Shepherd of Renee's Garden Seeds for the answer to which nasturtiums I should grow next year...

"The weather has a lot to do with blooms on nasturtiums -- a chilly, dank summer will be a factor in producing more leaves and flowers. It's also absolutely true that over fertilized or over rich soil will tend to produce more leaves and flowers," writes Renee (Guilty as charged, I do grow nasturtiums in the same soil I grow strawberries! And chilly and dank certainly describes summer 2010). But there's good news...

"The seed producer is what makes the difference," she continues. "We get the same nasturtium variety from different seed producers to grow out and look for this trait (flowers held above the foliage), selecting the most floriferous to offer for Renee's Garden packets. So this is a case of you get what you pay for and it's important choose your seed packet provider carefully. That said, I think Whirlybird is a good one to grow along with most of the trailing ones and our Alaska , Cherry Rose and Buttercream.."

Okay, put my order in...for a warmer summer, as well as Alaska Mix, with its lovely warm colors and variegated leaves. Also Buttercream, new for 2011, and Whirlybird, with its lively mix of shades from palest yellow to hot pink and red....

 

 

 

Comments

[Kristian]

Empress of India is compact with prolific red flowers; dark leaves. My new favorite nasturtium.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Kristian, I'd forgotten about 'Empress of India'- thanks for reminding me how beautiful it is, with blue-green leaves and intensely red flowers...such a choice nasturtium....
Val