Nasturtiums

comments (0) April 26th, 2009

Ruth Dobsevage, editor

no recommendations

Set aside a small area for nasturtiums.

Add Comment
Print

Want to jazz up your summer salads? Try growing nasturtium. Its flowers and leaves add zing. I always start a small patch in May, after the ground has warmed up. It rarely does spectacularly in my garden, but it rarely fails either. Come August, the flowers appear, too late for greens but just right for tomato, cuke, and pepper salads. I just add a few flowers to the colander as I head back to the house.

Nasturtium seeds are widely available in seed catalogs and at garden centers, and the flowers come in many colors. There are low-growing and climbing varieties, and some have variegated leaves. Most of the time I grow ‘Jewel Mix’, which produces red, yellow, and orange flowers on short plants. My deer in residence don’t seem to like nasturtiums, so I can safely plant them in a bed adjacent to the garden.

Nasturtiums are nipped by frosts, even light ones, so enjoy them while you can.