Dwarf Jewel Nasturtium. Picture taken 6-14-09.
FAMILY: Tropaeolaceae
GENUS: Tropaeolum
SPECIES: minus
COMMON NAME: Nasturtium
CULTIVAR: Dwarf Jewel
The Dwarf Jewel Mix Nasturtiums struggled all summer, but took off when cooler weather came along. They didn’t bloom that much, though! I planted these in Minnesota, too, but they sure weren’t dwarf! I would really like those pictures! The plants grew really huge, and some of the leaves were a good 6 inches across! The plants were around 24″ tall and they trailed! Makes me wonder if someone got the seeds mixed up or something! I still have seeds from them, so I will go ahead and plant them in 2010!
Nasturtium "Dwarf Jewel Mix' blossom. Picture taken 6-14-09.
I planted the Dwarf Jewel Mix, but as with the Tall Trailing variety, the orange blooms came on first. After them struggling through the heat of the summer, the pouring down rains, very organic soil, etc… Needless to say, they did not bloom well and I did not get a wide assortment of colors! I definitely have to do something different with them in 2010. The plants were small, though, nothing at all like the ones I grew in Minnesota. Maybe I can find a seed source for “non” dwarf Jewel! The ‘lily pad’ like leaves are edible and so are their flowers!
Now, Nasturtium are kind of weird to transplant. You know how when you plant seeds in a pack, or little pot, and go to transplant them and you get this superb glob of roots? Well, that doesn’t happen with Nasturtiums. They don’t have roots like that at all! They look kind of like underground branches with no tiny little roots to hold the soil. So, transplanting can be a little tricky, and they kind of go into a bit of a shock… Then it takes them a little longer to snap out of it and grow. It may be best to plant the seeds directly in the ground or maybe use little peat pots so you don’t have to disturb the roots.
Another lesson I learned about Nasturtiums, and most plants, is be careful what you spray around them. The leaves kept getting these weird spots on them… I thought it was from the Neem spray I use to control some of the bugs. Japanese Bean Beetles and Stink Bugs do get on Nasturtiums! Anyway, I realized what it was, and it was not the Neem! We have mosquitoes down here in Mississippi like you wouldn’t believe! I could not go outside without a can of OFF and I would spray it close to some of the Nasturtiums. One day I kind of was thinking it could be the OFF that was making the leaves spotted. SO, I went out in the yard and sprayed it. Within a couple of days the grass in that spot was brown!!! After that, I didn’t spray around the plants anymore and used Neem with no side effects. I really wonder what that OFF is doing to me. Maybe I should use it as a weed killer!
You know nasturtiums are supposed to be planted in bad dirt and not to fertilize them. Maybe you have killed them with kindness?
Sara,
Actually, in the south, Nasturtiums may be one of those plants that do better here in the spring and fall than in the heat of summer. I even took the planters inside over winter and kept them in the sunrooms (or moved them when it got really cold), and they have survived-two years so far. As far as “needing ” to plant them in bad dirt and not fertilizing, that isn’t really exactly correct. They will grow in good soil and you can fertilize them along with any other bedding plant, but they grow better than some others in poor soil and no fertilizer. I just wish I has pictures of the Nasturtiums I grew in Minnesota with regular applications of general purpose Algo Flash. The variety ‘Dwarf Jewel’ wouldn’t apply. They grew HUGE and even trailed.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for visiting the blog!