Where have they been all my life?
Why these once popular flowers aren’t so any longer is puzzling. Maybe the marketing gurus have us convinced we must spend more on flowers than 10 cents. Anyway, they are definitely appropriate for a historic home and my budget.
I saw a neighbors pathway full of blooms and asked what they were, “Nasturtium. I threw some seeds down years ago.”
These are beautiful flowers, BLOOM early SUMMER to frost, Need NO DEADHEADING, and spread and come back every year! Prolific…
CHEAP (or inexpensive): It’s about $2 for 20 seeds. A bargain. You direct sow them in the garden and planters March-April per the instructions. You rub them lightly with a nail file first to help them germinate. Only a very hard frost would hurt them which is why they say March/early April.
The 20 seeds will fill a border or a small area with beautiful flowers year after year…
Since I want to try different types, I planted 5 highly rated varieties, climbing in planters, mounding along a border, etc based on reviews read online. Since I have a small city yard, I only used half the packs and passed the balance of the treasured seeds onto family and friends.
Edible: They are supposed to be tasty in salads, omelette, and soups. Technically they are a vegetable.
Don’t fertilize and poor soil is best: Per instructions, for the best blooms. They are carefree once established.
They repel harmful insects from your garden.
I am waiting for mine to reach their mature 12″ size and bloom…All I do is water daily.
Here is an interesting article and some recipes.
The online company I purchased seeds from is West Coast Seeds.
I also planted some poppies because they should be direct sowed as well. They don’t take transplanting well.
Stage 2:
Nasturnium at 18 days. Direct sowed 4/3.
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