One of our favorite places to visit in Boston is the Gardner Museum, because of the eclectic collection, the music, and the old-fashioned nasturtium baskets trailing their vines some fifty feet to the ground. This is the variety you must use to create such baskets. Vines will trail as far as they are able. Colors include red, gold, yellow, mahogany, and orange. If used in the garden, the vigorous vines will spread all over (the vines spread the best in both garden and basket if the soil is not too fertile). See the growth of about 4 feet in one of our summers. Blossoms are a spicy addition to a salad.

30 seeds

PLANTING

Tropaeolum majus

Annual

Germination:10-12 days, soaking seeds overnight aids germination

Seed Planting Depth:Sow 1/2 deep

Starting Indoors:Start indoors 2-4 weeks before the last frost. Provide 60-65F soil temperatures until germination.Usingindividual biodegradable peat/cow pots/paper potshelps to reduce root damage when transplanting.Transplant 8-10 apart after the last frost date.

Sowing Outdoors:2 weeks before the last frost into early summer

Spacing:8-12

Growth Habit:Trailing

Height and Width:10-12 x 36-48″

Light Needs: Full sun

Soil Needs: Average, well-drained.An abundance of nitrogen in the soil promotes excess foliage with limited blooms

Approximate days to flower from seed:55-65 days

Uses:Attracts pollinators, flower beds, containers, window boxes, hanging baskets, edible flowers and leaves, companion plant in the vegetable garden-brassicas, cucumbers, melons, squash, radishes, and tomatoes

Care:Low maintenance, minimal care required. Deadheading is not necessary but promotes vigorous blooms. When growing in containers they might need to be pruned back during the middle of the season to maintain their shape and watered more frequently