Sometimes everything is grand and the garden grows so well that the gardener efforts are minimal but other times the garden seems to want to thwart the will of the gardener. The latter case is true at least so far for my nasturtiums. When I last mentioned our rising protagonists they were planted surrounding the garden obelisk near my side entry arbor. As the week wore on the little Spitfire nasturtiums succumbed to the rigors of life in the garden and faded away. That happens sometimes, it’s just life in the garden. Stuff grows, stuff dies, stuff grows again, and you guessed it…
After the first set of nasturtiums resigned themselves to the afterlife I planted new seeds directly in the garden. The odds favor these nasturtiums because they have not had to acclimate to the outdoors. Sometimes the process of hardening off can be rough on a new seedling and direct sown seeds don’t have that disadvantage. Beneath the obelisk I planted four seeds – one of which is on its way to becoming a strong and healthy addition near the self-sowing garden. Hopefully the others will be up shortly.
Another seed is coming up next to a Japanese maple while one pot of nasturtiums hasn’t shown any growth yet but it’s still early. With any luck this second batch of nasturtiums will thrive. Only time will tell!
I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee’s Garden for the seeds.
Awright there Dave
Problem I have with Naturtiums is that they're a martyr to pests.
That aside, they are lovely though. Of course if you feed and water them like the in-laws at Christmas they don't flower so well.
Good luck.
I planted Nasturtiums in my window boxes {that are under the windows on my {catch all} shed & they seem to be doing fine. I even have a couple blooms. Orange of course—I was trying for more of the colors.
I've never had luck with them here either.
I don't sow them indoors so I haven't had to worry too much about acclimating them to the outdoors. Hope the direct sown seedlings do better for you.
Hi Dave! Sorry I've not been around to see ya in a while! You know how it goes I'm sure. Spring and early summer are always busy times for folks like us.
I'm not too pleased with the growth habit of my nasturtium. I have one in a pot with a black-eyed Susan vine and I'm allowing both of them to trail out and down a pedestal. I just sowed more seeds in and around the yarden today, maybe they'll fair better than the one I started indoors! I hope.