Nasturtiums

Add some color to your garden with nasturtiums

Sunday, May 20, 2007— Time:1:43:21 AMEST

By Mary Beth Bennett / For The Journal

MARTINSBURG— I’m adding nasturtiums to my garden this year to add color and an edible flower/plant. I’m also going to observe them to see if they help deter some insects I’ve had problems with in the past.

Nasturtiums were one of the first New World plants to become popular in European flower gardens and were discovered in the jungles of Peru and Mexico. They were introduced as a vegetable in Europe.

The Incas used it as a salad crop and medicinal herb, so the early explorers shipped it along with the potato and the tomato back to Spain. Nasturtiums were recorded in the United States as early as 1759.

Thomas Jefferson planted them in his vegetable garden at Monticello from at least 1774 onward. One entry in his garden book categorized it as a fruit amongst others such as the tomato, indicating that he ate the pickled seeds. Most of the nasturtiums grown at that time were the tall, trailing orange variety. Over the course of the 19th century, breeders produced smaller, more compact types that mounded neatly into containers or formed a colorful, less sprawling edge to flower beds.

Nasturtiums are a fast-growing annual that is usually offered in its compact, non-vining form, but it is really a weak-climbing vine or sprawler. It has semi-succulent, peppery tasting leaves that are round, with the petiole attached in the center of the leaf blade.

Nasturtiums are usually yellow and orange, but maroons and reds are available. The flowers are either single or double and about 2 inches across with a straight spur behind each. It begins blooming about eight weeks after seeds are planted and continues to bloom until hot weather arrives.

The name Tropaeolum majus was assigned to the nasturtium. The name is taken from the Latin word tropaeum, or trophy. A yellow-flowered nasturtium twining up a post reminded the famous botanist Linnaeus of the practice used in ancient times of displaying shields and helmets of slain soldiers on the trunk of a tree at the scene of a battlefield.

Another explanation for the name says that the name nasturtium comes from the Latin words for Nose (nas), and tortum (twist), referring to a persons’ reaction upon tasting the spicy bittersweet leaves. Botanists named it after watercress, (Nasturtium officinale in Latin), which tastes similar. Nasturtiums were commonly known in Europe as Indian Cress.

Of the nasturtium cultivars on the market today, one of the most liked is the old heirloom variety Alaska. In addition to the usual orange, red and yellow flowers, Alaska has variegated foliage. The leaves are marked with irregular patches of white and cream and are attractive even when not in flower.

Nasturtiums are easy plants to grow. They can be seeded in place two weeks before the expected last frost date or transplants can be grown. Plants are best in full sun or light shade in average soil. They combine well with other plants in mixed containers. Heavy feeding and too much water increases foliage growth at the expense of flowers. All parts of the plant are edible. The flowers make a colorful addition to a leafy salad.

Nasturtiums are considered to be great companion plants that help deter aphids, whiteflies, squash bugs, cucumber beetles and other pests in the garden. Plant them with tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and under fruit trees.

Nasturtiums are very easy to grow and the seeds are large and easy for children to handle. They are pretty, fairly long-lasting flowers and the young gardener will be proud to make an arrangement of cut flowers or add them to the family’s salad plate.

Hummingbirds insert their long bills into nasturtium flower spurs to sip the nutritious nectar. When they do this, they get some pollen on their faces and then they do the nasturtium’s bidding by delivering the pollen to another flower.

I even found a Web site for kids to make paper nasturtiums while learning about the parts of plants: www.rodale

institute.org/krrn/discoveries/paper/0402/nasturtium/home.shtml

http://www.journal-news.net/Living/articles.asp?articleID=9350

Tags: nasturtiums, summer color, edible annual

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