Nasturtium seed
LATIN NAME: Tropaeolum majus
COMMON NAME: Nasturtium
Nasturtium is the bright, easy, trailing or climbing annual of the gardens, and its vivid, orange, red and yellow, spurred flowers have been a familiar of the old gardens for a very long time. The round, soft, green leaves and the bright, showy, five-petalled flowers with the long, slender spurs cover the plant through the summer, and both the leaves and the flowers have a fine, peppery taste. The plant is one of the easiest of the annuals, and it is a fine, generous addition to the border, the pot and the window box. It is a plant of the sunny, poor, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Nasturtium has a steady and well-documented place in the plant science, and it has been studied for its bright, spurred flowers and its peppery leaves. The round leaves and the showy flowers have been looked into, and the plant keeps showing up in the work on the easy annuals and the companion planting. The vivid flowers have also made it a fine garden plant, and it is a regular subject of the studies of the edible flowers and the simple, quick annuals. The plant is a favourite of the school and the beginner gardens for its generous, dependable ways.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Nasturtium is grown for the bright flowers and the peppery leaves. Both the leaves and the flowers have a fine, peppery, mustard-like taste, and they are a colourful addition to the salads, the sandwiches and the garnish. The bright, orange, red and yellow flowers pull in the bees and the hoverflies, and the plant is a fine, easy, fast addition to the border, the pot and the window box. It has been written up in the food and the horticultural papers for its edible flowers and its easy ways, and it is a generous, easy plant of the sunny, poor, well-drained ground.
The nasturtium is one of the easiest and the most generous of the annuals, and both the round leaves and the bright flowers have a fine, peppery, mustard-like taste. The leaves and the flowers are a colourful addition to the salads, the sandwiches and the garnish, and the plant is a favourite of the children’s gardens. It grows best in the poor, well-drained soil, where it flowers far more freely than in the rich ground.
The nasturtium is a fine, easy plant for the beginner and the child gardener, and the bright flowers and the round leaves are a cheerful sight through the summer. The plant grows on fast and asks for very little.
To grow the nasturtium from seed, pour warm water over the large, round seeds and let them sit for an hour or two, then sow them about two centimetres deep in pots of moist, free-draining soil, keep them in a bright, sunny spot and water gently. The strong seedlings come up quickly and grow on fast. With the sun and the poor, well-drained soil, the bright, spurred flowers and the peppery leaves will be there through the summer.
Nasturtiums are bright and happy little flowers and a delight to grow, adding rainbows of cheerful color in containers, beds and borders for the entire growing season. Nasturtiums are easy to grow from seed and thrives in average to poor soil. Many gardeners include them in the salad garden for culinary purposes as the leaves and flowers are entirely edible!
