TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

They're More Than Just A Pretty Face

Photo by Monica Brandies

Nasturtiums, or Tropaeolum majus, are easy to grow from seeds or plants starting now. They will spread all over.

ADVERTISEMENT

By PENNY CARNATHAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 12, 2009

Updated: 03/13/2009 03:58 pm

I've just concluded the first week of my life devoted entirely to planting, pruning and puttering.

If you don't count the hair appointment on Tuesday. Oh, and the movie Wednesday. And the laundry, grocery shopping and housework. But with a whole week to spread out those necessities, I could garden until I chose to wash socks. That is truly a "spring break."

One of the items on my to-do list was to plant the nasturtiums I started from seed indoors on Jan. 31. I've wanted to give nasturtiums a try since I first saw and tasted them several years ago. They're a two-fer: beautiful blooms in all the sunset colors, and entirely edible, with a slightly spicy flavor.

Only two of the five seeds I started sprouted, but they grew about 8 inches in a month, so I was excited. I got a vining variety, Burpee's Tall Mix, which was destined for the container in one of my garden dead zones (Everything planted in the ground there dies. The mandevilla vine that used to be in the container was a real trooper, but went down in the hail of icy Arctic blasts.)

I never bothered to read more than the directions on the seed packet when I started the nasturtiums - full to partial sun was enough for me. So I was startled to see, as I prepared my little vinelings for planting, a network of white, squiggly lines lacing almost all of the leaves. I'd seen the same thing on tomato plants.

I hit the Internet and got another big surprise. Nasturtiums like "benign neglect" (Yes! Two of my favorite words). They like poor soil with good drainage (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that is the definition for sand, which I have in abundance.) They do not like fertilizer. They'll respond by stubbornly withholding flowers.

I decided I had been over-mothering. It's an accusation with which I'm all too familiar, though it's usually not my plants I hear it from. I ignored the two nasturtiums for 24 hours, then stole a peek. And I saw it: a tiny yellow wormlike thing preparing to bury its face in a leaf. I snatched it, crushed it and headed right back to the Internet.

I did an image Google for "little yellow worm white squiggly lines" and up popped a picture of my tunneler, better known as a leaf miner. It's a broad term for a variety of larvae that feed by boring through the meat of the leaf sandwich. They won't kill the plant, but they sure don't help it. The best remedy is to pluck off the offending leaves. Which I did. In a tizzy.

With what I've learned about nasturtiums, I rethought my plan for putting these two guys in a container. Just about every outdoor container plant I know needs love, and trying to balance TLC with benign neglect is more than I can manage. So they're in the ground in the dead zone. (I did add some cow manure compost to the sand. Over-mothering is a hard habit to break.)

If you decide to try nasturtiums - ornamentals don't get much "greener" than these - I found the seeds at Lowe's for $1.57. Rub them with a nail file before planting. They're not big on being transplanted, so start them in a peat pot or a toilet paper roll, either of which you can just stick in the ground. Water weekly. They like the sun, but probably not our full-on summer sun, so look for a spot that gets a break in the afternoon.

Speaking of breaks, I highly recommend the plant-cation. Save on gas, get a workout, and enjoy the souvenirs for a long time to come.

Penny Carnathan

Come play in The Dirt at TBO.com, Keyword: Dirt. We provide all the tools.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT